Ring on her Finger
by Nickeltaffy
Summary: What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective?  What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?
1. Chapter 1

**Ring on her Finger**

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

….

Chapter 1

As everyone left the crypt after the fiasco caused by Willow's spell, Buffy happened to look down at the ring on her finger. It was the ring that Spike had given her when he proposed. She remembered him on his knees before her looking at her with such hope as he asked for her hand. When she gasped out her ebullient response: "Yes, Of course, yes", he gently slipped the ring on her finger. He had explained that it was a ring that had been in his human family for generations when he was wrapped in her arms. He was only supposed to give it to his true love. " True Love? Spike? Come on! Really? We're talking Spike here…Could you believe it?..No, it was the stuff of nightmares". She inwardly groaned. Remembering earlier, she and Spike had been acting like a silly engaged couple all evening while under that spell. Her stomach turned at the thought of her gushing over Spike while she was sitting in lap back at Giles' apartment. Maybe, someday she would look back at that and laugh…but that certainly wasn't in this lifetime.

The dark stone in the ring twinkled on her finger, catching her attention again. She held hand out looking down at the ring on her hand, tilting her head. It wasn't a typical engagement ring, kind of blocky and dark. That meant it was probably pretty old, if what Spike had told her was true. Still, it was kinda of an interesting ring, there was kind of a gothic beauty about it.

Shaking her head, Buffy looked up from her hand, to take a look at the people she was walking with. The group was making their way through the cemetery as she escorted back to Giles' apartment. At the front of the group, Anya and Xander were walking along, looking little worse for wear. Holding hands, they presented the picture of a young couple in love that had just had a tussle with some demons. Hmmm, it was nice to see that love could actually exist outside a spell, Buffy thought a little bit jealously. Next came Willow, shuffling along with her head down and turning every once in a while to murmur an apology to the group. After Willow, came Giles who had a firm hold of Spike. Spike was walking along with a resigned air and wasn't giving Giles any trouble. It was like he wanted to get away from that crypt as quickly as everyone else. "What did he have to complain about?…He should be so lucky that he….Wait, Why do I care what Spike thinks? I am obviously dealing with some type of head trauma." Buffy thought to herself. She was slowly bringing up the rear, just in case there were any demons left that wanted to get one last swipe at the group. She looked around the grounds. "No it was pretty dead…Oops, bad pun alert in the cemetery- Yep, definite head trauma."

As the group was walking along, Buffy's eyes went back down to the ring. Was it silver?…No, it couldn't be, Spike was wearing it and silver didn't agree with vampires…Maybe, white gold?…No, looking at the quality, it had to be platinum. "Not bad!" she thought impressed. She looked a little closely at the dark stone that sat in the middle of the ring. She wondered what type of stone it was. Couldn't really tell in this light. The ring had a definite charm, a little offbeat but she decided she liked the ring. She suddenly got a little sad at the thought that this might be the only time she might sport a ring on that particular finger. Knowing the short lifespan of slayers, Spike's proposal would probably be the only one she would ever get.

She stopped walking and thought to herself: "Spike. It was disturbing how genuine he seemed earlier this evening. He was thoughtful, helpful and affectionate. That accent, when he said "Slayer" back in the crypt, what it could do to a girl.. Spike was always easy on the eyes and he could kiss like….What am I thinking? This is Spike, the stupid vampire that is always trying to kill me. Spike is a vampire. Vampire equals evil. I kill vampires. So, why haven't I killed Spike? God knows he gets under my skin." Then, a little voice at the back of her mind sang, "_Maybe that's the problem_."

Buffy suddenly shuddered all over her body with disgust. She decided that she was not going to think about this anymore. She saw the group had gotten ahead of her. She held up her left hand and called to them to wait up. She was in a rush to catch up to the group; she didn't notice the stone in the ring and caught a moonbeam when she had raised her hand. It shone bright red only for a moment and then went back to dark color, it normally had.


	2. Chapter 2

Ring on her Finger

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

….

Chapter 2

Everyone gathered at Giles' apartment the next afternoon. A night's rest had done an amazing job at helping the Scoobies look and feel better. Willow was busy making cookies in the kitchen while Xander was testing Giles' newly regained vision over by the sofa. Buffy sat down in the bar chair across from Spike who was tied against the dining room chair. Spike was still in the same clothes that he had worn the night before. Spike was sitting there with irritation playing around his mouth. You could tell the little happy family scene being played out in front of him was obviously annoying to him. Buffy couldn't keep herself from staring at Spike . She reasoned with herself that he was dangerous and needed to be watched. "How exactly was he dangerous?" she thought. They had only tied his chest to the chair leaving his arms free. Any decent vampire could have easily freed himself from that situation. It was almost like he was using the fact that he was tied up as an excuse for him staying there, she thought. It was kinda endearing….Buffy suddenly shifted in her chair. It occurred to her that it was kinda creepy to associate nice words with Spike. Must be the spell, she reasoned.

Buffy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts as Willow approached her with a plateful of cookies.

"Have a cookie? Ease my pain?" Willow said with plaintive eyes.

Buffy picked up a cookie and took a large bite.

"Better?" She said with a mouthful of cookie.

Spike turned his eyes up away from the girls continued to talk about Willow's regrets over the past night's events.

"Don't I get a cookie?" interrupted Spike.

"No." came Buffy's retort.

"Well, I've got to have something. I still have Buffy taste in my mouth." Spike said distastefully.

"You're a pig, Spike." Buffy's eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. Well, I'm not the one that wanted Wind Beneath my Wings for the first dance" he announced to the entire room.

Everyone on the sofa, slowly turned their heads to regard the pair.

"That was the spell…." Explained Buffy as she scuttled out of the room.

…..

Later that day, after she had spoken to Riley about the whole "I'm engaged!" thing as being a big joke, she got to thinking about engagement. "It was such a joke". She snickered to herself. "To think me, being engaged. Who would have ever conceived of such an idea? Ha, ha, Hey, what's so funny about that? I could be engaged. I am a catch! You got that right!. Spike would be….Spike? I mean Riley. Yeah, Riley. Good old Riley, good guy, steadfast, all American good guy. He was as steadfast as vanilla ice cream. Hmmm, that can get kinda boring…What am I thinking! Marriage is too far off to even think about with Riley. If I was ever going to marry anyone, it was going to be someone human. I mean Angel was not human, but he was not marrying material. The constant brooding which was sexy to a sixteen year old girl, but it would have gotten a little old by the first anniversary in a marriage. It was a little too Wuthering Heights, if you know what I mean."

Buffy started to make a list of the qualities in her dream guy as she walked along. "I would like to marry a kind a guy that would be an equal in the relationship, but not afraid to show his tender side. Someone, who was so at home with himself that he didn't pretend to be anything else around others. Someone who was strong in their own right and not easily intimidated. He would not pull any power trips, but treat me as an intelligent woman capable of making her own decisions. Yeah, that would be a change from the other men currently in my life! He, also, wouldn't so serious that they couldn't have any fun. He would be romantic, surprising her at unexpected times, sweeping her off her feet. There would be great drawn out brawls between them and even greater making up afterwards. He would have such a good heart that he would let her win all the big fights, because he wanted to make her happy. He wouldn't be threatened that she was a slayer,…. in fact he would support it, and…and…and maybe even…, yeah maybe…. even revel in it." There was a moment where Buffy just let her inner dialog just settle in her mind. "Somehow.. Wha? Uh? Did that description seemed familiar? It was like she was describing someone she knew….But, Huh?...Oh, keep dreaming! Come on, Slayer, cut out the silly fantasies!" As turned the corner, the rock on her left hand twinkled.

As she walked through the quad, she realized it was getting late. She decided to head home to prepare for tonight's patrol. She thought she would stop by Giles before she went to the cemetery, just to check on Spi… the situation. Darn, was she ever going to get him out of her mind?

_Author note: Next chapter, it is going to start getting fun!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

….

Chapter 3

It was about twenty minutes before sunset, when Buffy arrived at Giles' apartment The door was unlocked, so Buffy went in, announcing "Giles I'm here."

There was no answer. " Hmmm." she thought Yeah, she was a little early, but he knew that she always showed up around this time of day. Maybe he was upstairs. Or maybe, Spike had done something dreadful to him and he couldn't speak. She glanced around the room looking for evidence of a struggle..Or it was possible that he was just out, but why wasn't the door locked?

She heard a small scrapping sound come out of the bathroom by the kitchen. She slowly walked over the hallway and pressed herself against the wall. The door was just slightly ajar. Like someone had closed it; but did not check to if it had latched and the door drifted open. She quickly moved over to the front of the door, it just inches from her nose. She listened to see if she could hear any sounds that would indicate someone needing assistance. She heard movement and a small thud from the other side of the door. She pushed the door open a foot and quietly slid into the bathroom.

There was Spike with one foot out of the bathtub with a hand towel wrapped around his hips. He looked up and saw her, that strange look of loss played around his eyes. His face settled into a look of irritation as he looked at her.

"Hello, Buffy" he said with barely covered annoyance

"Hello, Spike. What are you doing?" Buffy said as she tried to keep her eyes on his face.

"I would think that would be obvious, pet " he said, pulling his other foot out of the tub.

She rolled her eyes, put her hands on her hips and said with a huff, "Where's Giles?"

"We ran low on supplies, so he made a run to the store." Spike answered.

"Oh. What are you doing unchained?"

"If you haven't noticed, Slayer, it is still light outside. I am not going anywhere. I got Giles to release me so I could clean up…besides, my clothes still have to dry."

"Really? Washing your clothes, when did you get so fastidious?"

"They smelled like you. I am struggling to block the memories of last night and how you were all over me. Well, I couldn't forget while my clothes were stinking of your stupid perfume. So, if you don't mind?" he motioned to the door.

Spike took his eyes off the Slayer and looked around for another towel. He had forgotten to check on the towel situation before he got in the shower. So, now he was stuck with the hand towel, he had wrapped around him. He didn't like being caught like this. If there was one thing, he could still cling to, it was a shred of dignity.

She stood there, just staring at him with her mouth open, trying to make a sound.

"So, why are you still here?" He asked, looking at her with a tired look. Then, he shook his head, sending a small spray of water from his tightly curling locks. That motion was seemed to jolt Buffy out of her stupor.

"What do you mean "I" was all over you?" Buffy said aghast.

Spike rolled his eyes. He knew she wasn't going to be turning around and leaving now.

Buffy continued her rant: "What about you?" Lowering her voice and moving her head and shoulders in a mocking manner "OOH, LOOK AT THAT LIP. GONNA GET IT. GONNA GET IT." Putting her hand on her stomach as if it made her a little nauseous. "I know I am going to need therapy to get over that!"

She waited for his sharp retort. She was surprised when he calmly spoke. "You're right. I sincerely believe you do need therapy."

That tone surprised her more than she could say. How dare he say something so personal like that. She moved a little closer to him. She could smell the clean smell of soap and shampoo coming off him. It was really quite sexy.

She opened her mouth to threaten him as she usually did these days, but found her heart wasn't in it. She stopped herself and looked at his face. Really, looked at him. She remembered the things about him that impressed her from last night. The stone flickered on her hand.

Without touching him, she leaned over and whispered softly in his ear. "I can't stop thinking about what you said last night. I meant what I said too."

"Huh?" Spike's eyes darted over to Buffy's face. He was completely puzzled by what she just said.

"What did you say, Slayer?"

He waited for her to break character, but when that did not seem to be happening. The air grew uncomfortable between them. Spike slowly lowered his shoulder and pulled away from what seemed to be Buffy's looming presence. What was going on with the Slayer? She was a right cagey bit. He remembered her taunting him while he was chained in the bathtub only yesterday. "Oh no, she wasn't going to get him to fall for anything!" he thought.

"Right." He said, clearing his throat. "Would you mind tossing me a towel from the linen closet on your way out?" He was going to tough this situation out.

She smiled as she closed the distance between them. Her finger came up under his chin. Spike was looking decidedly uncomfortable. She looked up at him with such affection, that it froze his blood as if that would do anything to a vampire.

"If you want to keep this thing secret, that's okay, but I still want quality time with you." As she put her hand behind his head and pulled down his head for a kiss. Spike's eyes that had witnessed torments for over one hundred years, never looked more terrified than at that moment. Spike turned his head at the last minute, so that Buffy planted a kiss on his cheek. "Okay baby, I can wait." She whispered to him.

"I think I heard Giles." Spike said quickly, hoping the watcher had indeed returned.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 4

As Giles was closing the front door and placing the bags from the grocery and butcher on the table, he noticed Buffy come bouncing into the hallway from the bathroom with a little more force than was normal. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that she had been helped through the door. She ended up on the far side of the hallway, bumping against the wall and looking back at where she had come from.

Buffy was looking at the closed bathroom door with a perplexed expression on her face. The last thing she could remember was that she had just decided not to threaten Spike….then she was out here in the hall. She couldn't remember what happened in the bathroom after looking at Spike's face. She turned and suddenly noticed Giles. Giles looked quizzically at the young woman. Looking down at herself, Buffy straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair away from her face.

Buffy looked up at Giles, tilted her head as she pasted an overly big smile on her face.

"Giles, you're back!" she said with an unnatural cheer.

"Yes, indeed I am." He said, suspicion wrinkling his forehead.

"I was just talking to Spike." She said awkwardly pointing to the door across her body. She was making halting steps to the end of the hallway by the kitchen, her eyes traveling over to the bathroom door as she passed it. She leaned against the wall next to the kitchen bar trying to look casual, her body language telling another story.

"Is he alright? You didn't hurt him?" Giles asked, his eyes shifting toward the bathroom door, listening for moans of pain.

"No, no. He's fine….I think." flipping her hand back toward the bathroom door as she said it.

Giles looked closely at the Slayer again. There was something going on, but he was still trying to recover from the previous night's spell. He just didn't have the energy tonight and there were still his regular watcher duties he had to take care of. With a sigh, he pulled off his glasses to clean them.

"Here, let me help you with those bags" Buffy said as she rushed over to the table to start unloading the bags and putting the items in up in the kitchen.

Giles thought It seemed that he had caught his Slayer at something, but he wasn't sure what. He chalked it up to being young and didn't think about it anymore. They had to discuss tonight's patrol.

"Buffy, have you laid out the itinerary for tonight's patrol? I think we should start…"

...

In the bathroom, Spike stood up from clutching his head while he closed, latched and locked the bathroom door with relief. Yes, the little push he gave the slayer to help her through the door had hurt like hell; but he wasn't going to be alone with her for a second longer than necessary.

He picked up the hand towel and used it to dry his body. He saw that Giles had a bathrobe hanging on the back of the door. "Giles, I owe you….although I'll never tell you" thought Spike as he gratefully pulled it down. The last thing he wanted to be standing there with the stupid little towel, if Buffy decided to come in again. He sincerely doubted the bathroom lock would stand in her way, but it was one of the few defenses he had and he was going to use it.

He pulled on Giles' robe and hung the hand towel around his neck. If he had a reflection in the mirror, he would have asked what just happened. There was something definitely wrong with Buffy. His hand went to the spot on his cheek where she kissed him. His eyes drifted to the side in thought. Huh? What was going on? She had never liked him before. "Hey, you stupid bloke! Wake up! She still doesn't!" he yelled at himself in his head. He blinked several times and shook his head to clear it. His mouth twisted in a grimace as he let out a grumble.

As he thought about their little incident, he remembered she seemed to get great pleasure from torturing him in the past. The kiss on the cheek, calling him baby, that's all part of it he though, some kind of new torture she had devised. She had decided to play some kind of mind game on him while he was dealing with this chip business. "Oh great, not that I don't have enough to deal with, now she's got to twist the knife." he thought. A small flame fire of anger began to grow and turn into a bonfire inside him. " Well, she doesn't know who she's picking on. I am William the Bloody, one of the fiercest vampires that Europe has ever seen. No one is going to use me for their little game." He announced in his head as he unlocked the door and yanked it open.

…..

Both Giles and Buffy turned when they heard the bathroom door open with a bang. Spike barged out into the hallway with a snarl in his eyes. He looked at the two humans and turned away to go back down the hall to the utility room.

"Hey, isn't that my robe?" Giles called.

"Gotta wear somthin. Got company." replied Spike grumpily.

Spike disappeared into the utility room where the dryer was located that held his clothes. The anger brewing behind his eyes was funneling out into his actions. He pulled his clothes roughly out of the dryer and proceeded to pull them on in the utility room. His clothes were a little snugger than normal due to the heat and the fact that they were totally not dry yet, but that wasn't going to stop him. He hotly paced back and forth in front of the washing machine and dryer after he finished dressing. His vampire hearing could pick up Buffy and Giles discussion regarding tonight's patrol. "When was that bint going to leave?" he asked himself. He caught himself "Why do I care? Why am I back here hiding from her? Get yourself together, man!" Taking a deep breath, and pulling himself up to his full height, he picked up Giles robe and turned to go back to the living area.

…

Buffy lifted her head up from the map that she and Giles were looking at when she saw movement coming back down the hall. Spike stopped in the bathroom to rehang the robe and promptly came back out into the hall. He didn't address Buffy or Giles as he glanced at them with a sour look.

Buffy watched Spike as he turned the corner into the kitchen. His slightly damp t-shirt was clinging to him as Buffy tried not to notice. He jerked the jug of pigs blood out the refrigerator. After pulling a large mug out the cabinet, he spun around to stare at her while he poured the blood into the mug.

Buffy pulled back as she saw the look on Spike's face. "What is going on with the unneeded drama? God, he looks like he hates me" she thought "What's got him all in a twist? Vampires! Can't live with them…Hey, actually you CAN"T live with them." She smirked at her own joke.

Spike saw the smirk and thought with his eyes narrowing: "OH, IT'S ON, SLAYER!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 5

As Buffy later walked out of the Giles' complex, she got to thinking about Spike's behavior. Sure, she couldn't remember everything that happened in that bathroom but there couldn't have possibly been anything that happened that merited that kind of rude behavior. She didn't blame Giles if he wanted to kick Spike out. Spike must be a delight in the morning, if he was that temperamental in the evening. He did not stop glaring at her the entire time she was in Giles' place. He looked like he wanted to kill her. "Cheez…who killed his dog?" she said to no one in particular.

As she made her way out of the courtyard, her mind wandered. The idea of Spike with a dog appealed to her. "What kind of dog would he have?" She wondered. " Yeah, He would probably have one of those annoying Chihuahua's that was mentally unstable and needed massive dental work; a one eared, three legged, evil smelling little dog that was continuously growling and snapping at people, a right fiendish little devil dog." She pictured Spike holding the miniature demon dog. "Yeah, just like Mickey Rourke" she snickered, "Ooh, now that's scary!"

She slightly tripped on a tree root sticking up in the sidewalk when she got to the street; her mind went back to the incongruity of Spike. "Spike seems a little high-strung for a vampire, I mean, from all the vampires I've met. However those relationships usually didn't last that long, you, know. Hello..battle..stake…You don't get chance to know them as people. Sensitivity seems a little outside their nature, if you ask me." She thought. She couldn't figure out why Spike was acting like an emotional tinderbox.

"Oh, great. Now I have someone else to add to the list of people to tiptoe around. " she snorted.

She felt a little sadness creep into her being. Spike was the one person she could let loose on. She liked that she didn't have to sugarcoat her conversation with him. He could handle their verbal sparring. Spike being upset, somehow, bothered her on some level….Oh well, she was supposed to meet Xander and Willow at the end of the block and she was already late.

Xander and Willow were standing together at the corner, each with their arms tightly wound around their waist and bouncing on their heels to keep warm. Xander was holding a stake in his hand and Willow had a oversized fake suede bag with her magic supplies clutched under her arm. Buffy started to run when she saw the two. She was feeling a little guilty that they had been waiting for her on this chilly evening.

"Hey, guys!" Buffy exclaimed as she finally reached them.

"Hey, what's with the delay, Buffster?" Xander said as he gave her an exasperated smile.

"Sorry, I'm late. Giles wanted to go over a new route for tonight's patrol.: Buffy said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Soooo, what's Giles' grand plan for the evening?" simpered Willow as she sidled up to Buffy.

"Giles wants us to loop around to the small park by the old refinery. Seems that there has been a dip in the vampire activity in that area. He wants us to find out why." She stated.

"Isn't a dip in vampires…. a good thing?" smiled Xander.

"We don't know WHY there's dip in vampire activity in that area. It may be that something worse is causing it." Buffy widened her eyes at Xander.

…..

Back at Giles' apartment, Spike was still brimming with anger. For the past hour, he could not keep still. He was moving from the couch to the living room, even going back to the utility room. Earlier, as he sat on the couch with his back to Buffy and Giles, he couldn't wait until Buffy left on patrol. But now that she was gone, it was worse than when he was purposely ignoring her. Although he still had that stupid chip and the commandos were still after him, he discarded all concept of taking care. All he wanted was to get to that Slayer, feel her bones crush his blows, to sink his fangs into that irritating throat….. He grabbed his coat and stormed out into the night. He paused at the street, he looked up and down, letting his vampire sense tell him what direction to take. The word Slayer slipped out between his clenched teeth when he could tell the direction and took off down the street.

When Buffy entered the park, she could hear the sounds of rapid feet running toward her and her friends. She pulled out Mr. Pointy and had him ready to plunge into any unlucky vampire that came her way. As they passed a copse of trees, a vampire leaped over a hedge and landed on his stomach in front of the trio. He looked up at Buffy and said "Run." He was then suddenly pulled back through hedge by his feet with great force.

Buffy motioned that Xander and Willow should stay there. She ducked down through the hedge and followed the path that the vampire had been dragged. Xander and Willow looked at each other anxiously and then looked around them. Xander leaned forward to see what was on the other side of the hedge. An eerie quiet settled over the area. Then all at once, Buffy was suddenly appeared over their heads. She had been flung twenty feet beyond them. She now lay unconscious on the ground.

Spike was sensing the Slayer much stronger as he neared the park next to the refinery. He saw Willow and Xander standing there, looking as clueless as that was normal for them. He saw the movement from beyond them. He realized that that was a body that had been thrown. As he came up beside Xander and Willow, he realized the body was Buffy's. Using vampire speed, he went over and knelt by Buffy's body.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Xander barked as he started to move toward the two, leaving Willow where she stood. Willow was standing stock still with her eyes wide and looking around with stuttering whiny sounds coming out of her mouth.

Spike looked at Xander with distaste, rolling his eyes. Looking back at Buffy, Spike propped up Buffy by the shoulders. Taking her chin in his fingers, he looked down into her face, and realized that she would not be waking up soon. At that moment, Spike's vampire hearing heard a call that sent a chill up his spine.

"Bahaankredilat Resssuanou Veyattji" a dark velvet voice cut through the night air.

"Get out of here! NOW!" shouted Spike at the humans. Spike felt the pull of the dark voice, but he was not as vulnerable as a young vampire to it. Concentrating his thoughts, he was able to pick up Buffy and run out of the park with the humans following closely behind.

The door burst open at Giles apartment. Giles looked up from his research as Willow and Xander came falling through the door. Willow fell on her knees as she turned to hold the door open. Spike came through the door with an still unconscious Buffy in his arms. He walked past the humans and gently placed Buffy on the couch.

"Lord, Buffy….Xander, what happened?" Giles asked, standing up and going over to Buffy.

"Buffy, park, vampire, hedge, Buffy flying….I don't know" Xander gasped out.

"I do." Spike said with his eyes like stone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 6

As Giles went over to the sofa where Buffy lay, Xander and Willow were hovering over the still prone form. Meanwhile, Spike had walked away over to the far corner in the living room. Giles saw that the young slayer was not visibly wounded, but just seemed to be unconscious. Relying on the accelerated Slayer healing abilities, Giles knew that Buff would be coming around soon. Willow stood up and went into the kitchen. As Giles stepped back to allow her to pass, he turned to regard Spike on the other side of the room.

"What do you know about this?" asked Giles as he looked at the blond vampire who had retreated to the farthest corner away from the group.

"He… that thing in the park is called the Diye Cagiriyor, or He who beckons." Spike said. Then he turned away and declared, "He's a tough old cuss that you lot should leave well enough alone!"

"You don't seem to have mixed emotions on this subject. What is this creature? What are we dealing with? You said it was called Diye Cagiror… interesting name." mussed Giles. "I don't think I've ever seen mention of him in the Council's records."

"The correct name is Diye Cagiriyor and I am not surprised he is not your insipid Council's records. He doesn't like to lower himself to associate with the human world, Watcher." Spike responded quickly.

"Really? What is he?"

"Rumor in the vampire circles is that he was once a high priest from a now dead culture in another dimension. You know, same old story of messing with things that you shouldn't and Bob's your uncle: you become an inter-dimensional monster."

"Why is he here?" Giles asked as his gaze became more piercing at the vampire.

"Every few decades, he rips a portal in our dimension to feed his hunger for magic." Spike said, "It seems we're easy pickins on this plane. He's quite the legend in the vampire world. He prefers beings with magic as his main source of sustenance. He is very distinct in his tastes and tends to favor vampires."

"I don't see where this is going bad…." chuckled Xander with his shoulders bouncing up and down, as he looked around the room to see how he joke went over. No one was laughing, so he sniffed and straightened his shirt.

"Quiet, Xander." Giles said, intimating Buffy's state on the sofa with a tilt of his head

Xander looked down at Buffy and was immediately contrite. He puffed out his cheeks, puffed out a little air and turned slightly away from the sofa.

Spike continued: "The buggar favors dark magic but any magic will do, witches, slayers…. Oh, He'll pursue humans, but only when there is nothing else more tasty available. You're lucky your little witch didn't try anything. That would have certainly piqued his interest and brought his attention to our little group back at the park."

"See! My restraint paid off…" Willow called, bending her head through the kitchen pass-through. She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself or in that fact anyone, that her immobilized state at the park had been her conscious choice. She was not quite successful.

"For once, I am happy to be the last name on the dance card." piped up Xander

"Congratulations, Whelp." muttered Spike. "You're the human equivalent to parsley."

"You seemed to have a lot of knowledge about this Diye person. Have you run into him before?" Willow asked coming out of the kitchen. She knelt down and began to lightly stroke a damp rag across Buffy's forehead.

"Yeah, Dru and I ran into him on the outskirts of Krakow in the winter of 1906. One of the first really eerie experiences I've had since becoming a vampire. I don't know how, but we managed to escape. We really shouldn't have…." Spike said, remembering Druscilla's terror and how she had been clutching at him, as they ran away from that alleyway in Krakow.

Buffy began to move her head back and forth as she was making her way back to consciousness.

"I don't know how she made it out of there, her bein a Slayer and all. He should have snapped her up like Sunday lunch." Spike said, slamming his eyes over to Buffy.

It was at that moment that Buffy slowly opened her eyes. She slowly blinked and opened her eyes deliberately wide as she tried to focus them. She sat up a little and looked around the room. She put her hand to her head and laid back against the arm of the sofa.

"Ouch…ooh. What happened?" She asked with her eyes closed in pain.

Willow put a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder and handed her the wet cloth. Buffy put the cloth to the back of her head, and made a small noise of pain.

"Buffy, how are you feeling?" the Watcher asked as he leaned over Willow to address her.

"Like I've been hit with a 20 pound…No, make that a 50 pound sledgehammer. Tell me again – what happened?"

"It looks like there really WAS something going on at the park by the refinery." Xander said with a soft chuckle.

"Thanks for the clue, Sherlock. Tell me something I don't know" Buffy said with a wince.

"Yes, Spike was just telling us about the entity that you encountered there." As Giles inclined his head toward the vampire.

"What was Spike doing in the park?" She turned her head angrily toward the vampire.

"Makes no nevermind, Slayer. You're just lucky, I showed up when I did. Your crack team wasn't exactly leaping into action when I arrived." Spike said with an amount of disgust.

"Hey, I resemble that remark." Xander said sarcastically.

"It was a good thing that I didn't do any magic….Spike said." mumbled Willow lifting her hand and pointing at Spike at the end of her sentence.

….

About 10 minutes later, after she had gotten caught up on the "Diye whatever" guy, Buffy sat up and addressed her gang.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked the gang.

"If you're smart, nothing." Spike replied with some force.

"Wasn't speaking to you, Spike. Aren't there some chains around here with your name on em?" Buffy said rolling her eyes.

Giles pulled off his glasses and spoke up to break the tension.

"I believe that we need to reconvene tomorrow. We're all tired and there's not much more we can do tonight. Xander, please walk Willow home. And, Xander, be sure to bring Anya tomorrow, she may have information from the demon realm, as well. We'll reconvene at two tomorrow to pull whatever research we can on this character."

Willow and Xander said goodnight and Buffy watched them walk out the door. She propped her head on her hand on the back of the couch and closed her eyes to rest for a minute. Spike went back to studying the far corner of the room away from the sofa. Giles went into the kitchen when suddenly a thought struck him. He had a box of books back in the utility room that he had not unpacked yet. He thought there was a book regarding inter-dimensional figures among them. He turned and rushed down the hallway.

Buffy looked back over her shoulder, hearing the sudden movement going back down the hallway. She turned back and looked over at Spike. The stone on her hand again flashed brilliantly for a moment.

"Spike…..Spike" she said softly as if she was in great pain. Still holding her head in her hand, she raised the other hand, curling her fingers weakly for him to come nearer. She made a small noise as if she was clearing her throat to say something important to him.

Hearing his name said so weakly. Spike turned around and looked suspiciously at the Slayer. "Slayer….?" He said warily. He scrutinized her appearance from head to foot, not really trusting the sight of her wanting to share vital information with him, in particular. He saw the fingers of her summoning him over to her. She sounded like the pain was keeping her from talking. He slowly moved over to the sofa, so he could hear her better.

In a flash, Buffy reached up and grabbed his hand, pulling him down and spinning him around so he landed on the sofa next to her. She leaned over and pinned him with her upper body, a smile of heady exhilaration as her eyes traveled over his face. With her face tilted up just inches away from his, he heard her say these chilling words:

"I thought they'd never leave!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 7

For a moment, Spike was speechless with shock. To his horror, he realized that Buffy was walking her fingers of her right hand up his center of his chest. With her lower lip caught in her teeth, Buffy was looking up at him with a playful look and humming a little tune. Spike found himself immobilized in the split instance after Buffy had grabbed him. She had pinned him so suddenly against her that his right arm was trapped between them and she had a hold of his left wrist with her left. He tried to kick out and buck away from the couch, but Buffy was too strong and too intent in her quest. With the feel of her approaching hand toward his throat, Spike reared his head back from her vexing hand.

"Oi! Lemme go! What do ya thin ya doin, Slayer? Get your bleedin hands off me!" He yelled, as he continued to attempt to wrestle out of her iron grip.

Shaking her head gently and softly laughing, she just snuggled her body up against his hip. Totally astonished by the feel of Buffy's body against him, Spike eyes went wide and scanned the room nervously. Pulling his head and upper body away in order to take evasive action from her hand tickling the indentation at the base of his throat, Spike took a deep breath and looked over at the Slayer from the corner of his eyes.

"Is this some kind of game?" he said with quiet murder in his voice.

"Do you want it to be?" Buffy asked with mischief in her voice.

"No! Slayer, this is no time for your sick little prank. There are more pressing issues at hand." Spike lectured.

"What are you talking about? I just wanted you close to me." She pouted and then went on to flash her eyes up at him adoringly. "You were so wonderful this evening. I knew that you would be there for me when I needed you."

Knowing his chip would fire if he reacted violently. Spike resolved himself to wait out the Slayer's tomfoolery, thinking she would eventually get bored if she got no reaction. He kept his eyes staring straight ahead as she continued to trail her fingers around his collar bone. His mouth was pulled back in tension as he waited while she continuously prattled on to him about something about birdseed or rose petals. It wasn't until she asked him his thoughts about soap bubbles that he thought that the slayer had finally gone insane. Then she said the most insulting thing.

"You know, just being this close to you is a little piece of heaven" she said as she began to think about nuzzling him under the neck.

"You take that back!" He said stormily, turning his head and staring into her eyes.

"Make me!" She said flirtatiously, flipping her hair at him.

"What is it with you and this little twisted game you created? It's depraved and I am an authority on that." Spike said with some derision.

Ooh, I would like to explore that aspect…" Buffy started to close the distance between their faces. She placed her finger on the far side of his face to keep it turned toward her. She leaned in.

With a last ditch effort to get free garnering the same fruitless results, Spike lowered himself to use his last defense he had in his arsenal.

"GILES! GILES!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

…

As Giles came back toward the living room, he could sense the flurry of activity on the sofa. Will those two ever stop? He should ask the Council for hazard pay to referee those two, he thought. As he neared the living room, it appeared that Buffy and Spike had entered some kind of swatting match on the sofa. He watched as Spike hastily leapt up from the couch, the force that Spike used carried him over to the other side of the room. It appeared that Spike had somehow gotten entangled on the sofa. How it ended up with such violence with Buffy, he really didn't want to know.

"You….You stay away..from me!" erupted out of Spike as he turned around, pointing at Buffy.

…

The last thing Buffy remembered was that Giles had gone down the hallway and suddenly she and Spike were batting at each other like kittens in a mock battle on the couch. She realized that she had a hold on Spike's wrist, which she immediately let go. Spike jumped off the couch and gave that terrible line reading of an affronted maiden. She was bewildered at the whole scene being played out here in the living room. What was Spike up to now, she thought.

"Can't I leave you two alone for a few minutes without you both creating a warzone? This is where I live, I mean, honestly." Giles said with exasperation.

"She…she" Spike stammered as he was still in a seeming state of shock. Still pointing at Buffy, he looked over to Giles and then quickly back to Buffy with an air of distrust.

Buffy wrinkled her brow and looked back over her shoulder at Giles. She shrugged her shoulder and looked at him with a confounded look, indicating she didn't know what was going on with Spike.

Giles surmised that the vampire must have been up to something, which had lead Buffy to violence in his home.

"Spike," Giles began to sermonize, "I realize that you're only here because of the unfortunate circumstances you found yourself in regards to the chip, but I don't think you should think of starting trouble. After all, you're only here because of our good graces…."

"Trouble!" Spike burst out. "I am not the one bloody stirring things up around here. Buffy was.."

"I was what? All I know is that I was sitting on the couch, holding my head and then all of a sudden, you're hitting me. Oh, and let me add: hitting like a girl!" Buffy retaliated

"Really, Spike, don't make excuses. I would think a vampire of your age would.." Giles continued.

"I don't bloody believe this!"a dumfounded Spike said to the room

"Giles, do you think this might be a side effect of the chip? He has gotten his brain fried a lot." Buffy said turning her eyes from Spike to Giles.

"Yes, I do believe that hallucinations could be a possibility." Giles pulled off his glasses and put the earpiece up to his bottom lip in thought as he regarded the vampire.

"Hello, standing right here, Watcher!" Spike declared, with his hands at his side, palms up.

"We'll have to see if these fantasies continue or if they're only episodic." Giles continued to ponder out loud.

"Fantasies! Bleeding..Oh…You! Right, right. No one believes the vampire! He couldn't possibly be telling the truth!" an agitated Spike asserted to the room.

Spike saw that his declaration made no headway with the two humans staring at him; he just wanted out of their sight.

"I am going back to the bathroom!" he stated as he barged past Buffy and Giles.

Buffy and Giles looked at each other, as Spike went down the hallway and entered the bathroom. The door had not quite latched when it opened again and Spike stepped out into the hallway. Buffy and Giles looked back at the vampire.

"AND, I AM LOCKING THE DOOR!" he yelled pointedly at Buffy. He abruptly turned around and went back to bathroom. When the door closed, there was a faint sound of a lock being slid into place.

Astounded, Buffy and Giles turned to look at each other. Wrinkling her face, Buffy's eyes looked up into Giles and she said in a hushed low voice:

"He's so weird."


	8. Chapter 8

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 8

The next day, all of the Scoobies gathered around Giles' dining room table with the exception of Buffy who was stuck in a lab she had forgotten about that afternoon. Willow had brought the research from her computer with her. She drafted Xander to lug in the large number of books from the college library regarding the occult, folklore and various sciences from her car. Giles, Xander and Willow each grabbed a book and sat down to study it. As the afternoon wore on, they were getting nowhere in their investigation.

"I didn't find much per se on this particular creature. I did find that the Diye Cagiriyor is Turkish." offered Willow as she was pulling another book out of the pile on the table.

"Was that where he first appeared?" Giles countered.

Willow shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head to the side.

"...Spike?" Giles said, as the group looked over to the vampire.

"I don't know." replied the sullen vampire sitting over by himself at the far side of the living room, away from the small group of people gathered around the table.

Spike did not want to speak to bunch of gits gathered at the table and he did not want to participate in their damable silly research. The dimwitted Scoobies continued to press him for more information regarding the creature as if that would change anything. All he wanted was to leave, but he couldn't do that because of this bleedin chip and the roid junky commandos were still on watch for him. He was stuck here, an unwilling mark for the Slayer's latest game. No one believed him about Buffy's little escapades last night. Now, Giles was blaming his outrage on the chip. That's bloody perfect, he thought. He kept as far away from the group as he could. He begrudgingly answered their questions with the least amount of words possible. If he was going to be stuck here, he wasn't going to let anyone enjoy it.

Back at the dining room table, Willow pulled out her research from the computer out of her bag. She then pulled out an ancient oversized book and began flipping open the pages..

"In the ancient folkIore of a tiny region by the Black sea, I did find something about people disappearing into a hole that suddenly appeared. It might have been the portal that Spike mentioned." she stated.

"Spike, How far back does the appearance of this creature go back in vampire lore?" Giles called to the vampire.

"I don't know" Spike replied snippily

"From what particular area, did these stories start?" Giles continued to question

"I don't know."

"Are you going to be of any assistance?" Giles asked as he pulled off his glasses.

"Not if I can help it." answered Spike

"Spike, I realize that you may be still upset from last night, but this affects you just as much as it does us, maybe even more so." Giles countered.

"Really, Spike, you could be a little more helpful. After all, free room and board doesn't pay for itself. " Xander added in a smart mouth tone.

"If I had known there was going to be a test, I would have studied." Spike replied grumpily.

"What's going on with Unhappy Gilmore over there? He seems kinda outa sorts." Willow asked Giles in a low voice.

"Yeah. If he keeps it up, I think we should offer him lots of chocolate and roomy pajama pants." Xander announced to everyone.

The other three people slowly turned their heads toward Xander, each giving him a disgusted look.

"Ugh. And instantly, the vampire is NOT the creepiest guy in the room." Willow said, shaking her head in a "not funny" expression.

"Hey, Okay, movin on! So, what's goin on with you know who?" Xander said, hoping to change the subject back to Spike.

"He's been this way since last night. Buffy and I believe he may be experiencing side effects of the chip. He locked himself in the bathroom last night and he has been acting very strangely this morning." Giles said matter of factly. "I was worried that I would to have to enter intense negotiations just to get access to my own bathroom."

"I hate to interrupt your deft investigative discussion, but I can hear you." Spike said exasperatedly. "Remember, Vampire goin mental over here!"

Willow looked at Spike sitting there with his arms wrapped around him. Ever since their talk in her room when he tried unsuccessfully to bite her, she had developed a soft spot for the beset guy. He had been rather kind in his comments that she was extremely bite-able even though at the time, his world had been pulled out from under him.

"Spike, if you help us, the sooner we can get out of here and leave you alone.." she said as an olive branch

"Well, if you put it that way. Anything to get the whelp to leave." Spike said as he stood up.

Spike walked over to the table and leaned over Giles to look at the mass of books and printouts lying on the table. He immediately pulled up a folklore book with a picture of a summoning hand from a nebula suspended over a pastoral landscape.

"No, that's wrong." Spike flatly stated.

"What? What is it?" Giles leaned over to see what Spike was looking at.

"This drawing. It was probably put in this book to titillate; it's too cheap, too maudlin. This was obviously done for the tourist industry. It looks like it drawn for a penny arcade fortune teller booth; much too boorish to have been inspired by the actual event. See here, it is just a hand, he is much more terrifying than that."

It was then that Spike began to remember the incident in the alleyway in Krakow. It had never really left him, although he had like to think that it had. Drucilla and Spike had come Krakow by following two other vampires they had met in Czermna. Dru and Spike had been spending the late autumn of 1906 at a lovely spa in Czermna. It catered to the indulgently ailing from the upper classes. The wealthy had come to reclaim their health and beauty at the spa, but they had run into something unexpected instead: vampires. He and Dru had blended in with the expensive clientele at the spa. Dru had enjoyed sipping on her fellow guests as they enjoyed the waters. She would silkily slide up to the guests at the springhouse and sip so gently at their necks that they never noticed. Many nights, there would be a string quartet playing in the dining hall. Spike could remember gliding with Dru under the glowing gaslights in the hall and then out into the garden, where their next victims waited for them unaware. There were soft gentle nights spent there, just him and Dru. Spike thought it ironic that the guests believed the fatigue and paleness were just a side effect of the water's healing properties. As it always happened, the peaceful nature and lack of excitement at the spa soon became oppressive to the vampires.

They had met Gustav and Karima at the Chapel of Skulls in Czermna. Dru had begged Spike to take her to see the Chapel that night. Dru had wanted to see the pictures painted in her head by the sonorous voices of the skulls inside. Spike was intrigued by the name and as long as they did not brush up against any crosses, he believed they could blend in with populace. He and Dru had waited until the nighttime masses were over, so they could enter the chapel as the congregation left the chapel. He and Dru could then look at the masses of skulls and bones to their hearts content. By the time everyone had left, the priest had retreated back to his quarters, so there was only he and Dru in the chapel. Spike picked up a shin bone and twirled it in his hand, knocking an occasional skull to hear a hollow thunk sound. On the other side of the chapel, Dru's hands were hovering over the wall of skulls as to absorb the symphony of terror coming from the bones. "Oh, pretty, pretty, pretty" she murmured back to them.

It was a moment later that a wildly disarrayed and drunk Gustav accompanied by a laughing Karima burst through the doors. The vampires immediately recognized their own kind. It had been a long time since Dru and he had had a wild night. Since the atmosphere was so polite at the spa, so Spike was overjoyed to find other vampires who kindred in their pursuit of pleasure. Later, Gustav and Karima convinced Dru and him to accompany them to Krakow.

It had been an extremely good night that particular night in Krakow. Just little over an hour before dawn, Gustav and Spike were good naturedly leaning against each other as they followed their girls who laughed and danced ahead of them. They were returning to their lodging after a night filled with liquor, dancing and killing. It had been a very good night, indeed. The music at the dance hall was excellent that evening and Dru loved the Polish folkdances. Earlier, she whispered to him as he spun and lifted her in an Oberek that they were dancing over a cave of a dragon. It leant a magical quality to the air that night, it was only later that he realized that the magic did not come from a dragon, but something far worse.

As the group moved down the street, Spike began to notice a voice muttering something indefinable, probably some drunk reciting poetry he decided. Karima had been the first to feel it. The undeniable pull, at first only, plucked at her as the group came closer to an alleyway the emptied onto the street. Perhaps due to her otherworldly senses, Dru had stopped and moved back toward Spike, her hand held toward him. Not knowing the danger yet, Spike casually reached for her hand, smiling. It was just then that Karima fell forward and was being pulled at a steady pace back down the alleyway.

Karima cried out in terror as she furiously fought against the force pulling her. Gustav leaped forward to grab Karima by the arms and stop her progression toward the other end of the alley. Spike and Dru countered and took a few steps back away from the struggling pair, so they could see down the alley. There at the other end was a mass of dark air swirling in on itself and in the center was something, not a man, something more…. It might have been something like a man once, but now it was too tall, its' skin gleamed many colors and flashed brilliantly like the blade of a knife turning under the light, it was too beautiful and too frightening. Where there should be a face…it was indescribable, it was definitely not of this world.

Kneeling, Gustav frantically used all his power to stop Karima from being dragged down the alley. Digging his heels into the earth, his arms straining as he tightly gripped her in his arms, he could not gain purchase to stop her movement down the alley. She wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing in fear and calling his name. In the next instant, she was gone. Then, the force turned to Gustav. He had stood up when he realized that Karima was not in his arms. The pull made him stagger a little bit, then the pull got stronger. Gustav was suddenly on his back being pulled down by that same force. He flipped over on to his stomach and clawed at the ground. He called to Spike for help.

Spike instinctively took a step toward Gustav. "No" commanded Dru. She kept him clutched beside her. He, being a younger vampire, stayed beside her since he could not overpower her. They watched as Gustav tried in vain to resist the power pulling him, and then he too was gone. The power next reached out for Spike. First, it was a little pull, like a mis-step you take off a curb; then it became stronger. Dru kept her hold on Spike till she too was being dragged with him. Dru managed to grab on to a light pole and used it as an anchor, but she was not able to stop Spike's motion down the alley. She drug them both to the ground hoping to slow the progress, using all her strength to hold on to Spike and the pole. The metal pole crushed in her bloodied hand. Spike continued to be dragged ahead of her, so he turned on his side to look back at Dru to say goodbye. When she saw that she was about to lose her grip on Spike, Dru gave up her grip on the pole to keep a hold of Spike. She wrapped both her hands around his right hand. Spike looked into her eyes, and for moment saw clarity in them. She was willing to sacrifice herself for him. If he could do anything, he needed to do it now to save them both. For some reason, he held up his left hand as a defense against the dark mass at the end of the alley and then there was a red flash.

The next thing that Spike knew he found Dru and himself lying up against a building on the opposite side of the alley. Dru was knocked senseless and was mumbling incoherently to herself. Spike quickly got his feet, and roughly pulled Dru to hers. He wrapped his arms around her as they quickly ran away from that terrible scene. He kept looking back expecting that creature to suddenly pursue them, but they managed to get away

Spike shook his head and came back to the present. He was still holding that book with the moronic picture. He looked down at it. Yep, they definitely had it wrong, he thought.

Just then, Buffy came through the door.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 9

"Hey, Guys!" Buffy yelled as she came through the door with Anya behind her. Buffy was carrying two large pizza boxes in front of her and Anya had two brown paper bags in her arms. "I brought dinner!" Buffy called out while Willow stood up and moved the books to make room on the table. "I got two extra large pizzas: One meat lovers and one with everything! I got all the major food groups!"

Anya moved past Buffy and went directly over to Xander who was sitting at the far end of the table. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and quick nuzzle with her nose. "Hi ya honey." She whispered as he smiled back at her and made a smacking sound with his lips. She, then, walked into the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter. She started to unload them by the pass-through, so she could keep up with the activity going on in the other room.

"We even stopped by the butcher's and picked up some more blood for you, Spike. Although from what Buffy is telling me, you may not be aware of it." Anya said as she pulled out a jug of blood out of one bag and turned to put it into the refrigerator. "She said that you are having some kind of delusions. Are they sexual in nature? Are they all vampire-y and sexy? Those would be the best ones."

Spike gave a low grumble. Spike's eyes never left the slayer; the elevated tension in his body was evident from the moment Buffy had entered the apartment.

"Are you having one now? Parley up the details, surly vampire type!" Anya leaned over the counter with her head turned toward Spike. Then she noticed the looks she was receiving from the rest of the room. "What? Oh right, like those books are a more interesting alternative."

"Anya." Giles said with a pained sigh, looking over his glasses at the ex-demon.

Anya trotted out of the kitchen and came to a stop behind Xander, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Buffy and Willow opened up the pizza boxes and each pulled out a slice. Munching on the pizza and purposefully ignoring Spike, Buffy meandered toward Giles to look over his shoulder at the research. As she neared, Spike moved back away. He even went around to the other side of the Xander and Anya to maintain the distance between him and the slayer.

"Hello Spike. I see you're still in a mood. Wow, ruminate much?" Buffy sighed with a mouthful of pizza as she watched him move away.

"Oh Yeah, He's been the vampire version of a ray of sunshine all afternoon." Xander said, rolling his eyes and unwrapping Anya's arms, as he stood up. The couple moved as one unit over to the pizza boxes. Xander wrapped his arms around Anya as she pulled out a piece of pizza which she proceeded to feed to him. Across the table, Willow's mouth dropped open and looked a little nauseous at the sight of the couple as she quickly put down her pizza. The sounds the couple was making were disconcerting to everyone else in the room.

"Shut it, Whelp!" Spike growled and took a step back toward the wall to lean against it. "Oh great, there was a clear path to me, now that the dull-some twosome had moved." he thought. He was not going to allow her to trap him in a vulnerable position again.

"Could we please place our grievances aside for a moment? Spike was just about to share his knowledge of this creature with us you when walked in."

Buffy turned her head toward the vampire. With an air of disparagement, she looked at the vampire and said "Well…?"

Spike remembered the previous evening while he was on the receiving end of the Slayer's menacing glare. It brought back the hard feelings and powerlessness he felt last night with a crash. He quickly rebuilt the walls of determination of not to be of any assistance to this group.

"Let me see….No, nope. Sorry can't help ya! It's all fading away." Spike dramatically placed his hand to his forehead. "Maybe I can just…just..Oh, bollocks! Sorry, it's gone."

Quickly dropping his hand, he turned quickly away from the table and walked back toward the sofa.

"Spike, will you stop acting like a nutcase! Hmmm. Perhaps, some unhealthy persuasion can help Spike's memory…" Buffy said threateningly, following his progress back to the sofa with her eyes.

"You keep your hands to yourself, Slayer!" Spike whipped around.

In that moment, Xander stopped chewing the pepperoni slices that Anya was feeding him and looked at the vampire. Anya also looked puzzled at the extreme reaction that Spike had displayed. Sure, he and Buffy were always giving each other a verbal tussle, but there seemed to be another undercurrent going on in this discourse. She looked over at Willow who seemed just as stunned at Spike's reaction.

"Really! Buffy! Spike! If you two could just maintain a civil discourse without threatening violence…." Giles sighed. He pulled off his glasses and covered his eyes with his hand. Finally tired of ignoring the smacking sounds and giggles, Giles turned around to the couple eating pizza. "Oh, Xander! Anya! Please stop what you're doing with the pizza. It reminds me of the monkey house at the London zoo."

Willow piped up. "I didn't think monkeys ate pizza. I thought they just pulled fleas off each other and ate them?"

"Yes, I believe they do." Giles put his glasses back on.

Anya and Xander looked a little shocked, embarrassed and insulted. Xander took a quick look at Giles and then took hold of Anya's hand holding the pizza. He shaking her hand with the pizza over the pizza box. He was shaking his head at her confused questioning expression and softly saying "Put the pizza down. Let it go… let it go...no…no."

….

A few hours later, the Scoobies had not come any closer on finding out anything on the creature. Since it was nightfall, Buffy stood up and stretched.

"Well, we can't sit here all night. There are groovy things to kill out there." Buffy announced.

"Wait. There's also something serious out that too wants to kill US." Willow said worriedly.

"How is that any different than any other night? In fact, how is that different from this living room?" She repeatedly nudged her head over the living room where Spike was.

"I think we should at least scout out where this guy is located. We circle the park by the refinery without going inside." Buffy said as she paced. "Then we should break up into two teams. Xander, you, Willow and Anya will make up one team. Spike and I will be on the other.."

"OH NO! I don't think so, Slayer." Spike objected without warning.

Everyone turned to look at the vampire making such a scene.

"What's your problem, Spike?" Buffy looked perplexed at the vampire.

"It's just …Just…Buffy, don't pretend you don't know." Spike looked around. He knew that even if he told the truth to this crowd, he wouldn't be believed. "I got this chip and you know, uh.. the commandos are still looking for me."

"Spike, you're the only one who has had any firsthand knowledge of this creature. We need you to come with us. It is not a request." Buffy said firmly.

"A lot a help I'll be, while I am being dragged away to a government lab facility." Spike replied.

"Keep on chasing that dream, Spike. I thought of that possibility. We're going to send you out in disguise. We'll downplay the whole vampire angle." Buffy explained. "That's why I asked Anya to bring some clothes over here tonight for you."

"Yeah, they're in a bag in the kitchen. This is going to be fun! Vampire Extreme Makeover! Let me go get them." Anya said with a high pitch tone and jumped up to run into the kitchen.

"I don't think you'll be able to disguise me well enough. I have very striking looks. I should just stay here." Spike said sitting down. "Giles can go in my place. He can use his highly developed Watcher skills."

"Spike, you're going. So you just better shut your mouth and cooperate or you are going to find yourself tied up and left on the commando's doorstep." Buffy glowered at the vampire.

Anya came back into the room with the bag. Buffy took the bag from her, pulled something out of the bag and then shoved the bag into the lap of the sitting vampire.

"Go. Go on. Go put these clothes on." Buffy stood over the vampire, pointing toward the bathroom.

"Bullocks! No! I am not your puppet. I am not a bloody Ken doll that you can just dress up." Spike said belligerently.

"I hate to tell you, but I use to pull the arms and legs off my dolls. I never saw the purpose of Ken in Barbie's world, so don't tempt me! I wonder if your arms will make the same popping sound…"

"Alright, that's enough. Buffy, please calm down." Giles said as he stood between them. "Spike, I would like to apologize for the treatment you are receiving this evening. It seems that things have gotten out of hand. I would like to request your assistance in this matter if you would care to give it."

"Well, that's more like it." Spike said as he stood up. "Seeing that this creature is not going to go away, and I am at the top of the daily specials board, I'll help. Just don't get used to it and there should be no bleedin hugging involved."

"Never entered my mind." Giles responded with a puzzled look.

…

It had been a long time, since clothes made him feel this ridiculous, Spike thought as he walked back from the bathroom. The Scoobies turned to see the Vampire standing at the end of the hallway in his new outfit. The room suddenly burst into ill-concealed snickers. Spike looked up at the ceiling with a pained look.

The football jersey was about five times too big for the vampire and the faded light blue stone washed jeans were incongruent with the vampire that they all knew. Spike stood there with his mouth twisted and patiently waited for the laughter to die down.

Buffy turned toward Anya as she asked: "Where did you get those?"

"From the back of Xander's Dad's closet." Anya replied.

"Huh?" Xander abruptly stopped laughing. "Oh, my dad is going to freak when he finds that stuff is missing."

Buffy came toward the vampire, looking him up and down, not bothering to hide her amusement.

"Well, I don't think anyone is going to be confusing you with a menacing vampire in that outfit. But there is just one more thing: your hair."

"What are you going to do?" Spike looked suspiciously at the Slayer

Buffy held out her hand to Anya, who put a cloth object in her hand. Buffy, then, placed the softball cap on Spike's head. She stopped for a moment and took a look at Spike. She shook her head, took off the cap and then placed it backwards on Spike's head. She then turned toward the group and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen. I would like to present the Common Variety Native American Campus Douche."

Staring straight ahead, Spike said flatly:

"I hate you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 10

Buffy was walking around Spike admiring her work. Yep, there would be no way that anyone would associate this apparent doofus with a vampire. Were there vampire dwebs? She would have to ask Spike. Never mind, she would ask him later. Now it was time to finish the disguise.

She stopped in front of Spike and faced him. "We're going to have to do something about your voice."

"What do you mean? My voice? I speak perfectly good Queen's English." Spike said proudly.

"That's the problem. I don't think you should sound like Queen or any other English rock band". Buffy countered.

"I always thought Spike sounded more like those guys in Oasis, myself." Willow piped up.

"Spike, the object is blend in, not sound like you're the snippy judge on American Idol. Of course, right now, I would settle for Dukes of Hazard at this point." Buffy lectured. "That's why I think we need to you to practice sounding like a typical bonehead guy from the campus."

Anya stood up and came over to Spike.

"Yeah, Spike. You really need to embrace this whole new look that includes the language." Anya said enthusiastically. "You need to sound more like a imbecile- wait…an American imbecile.. Xander, come over here and show him how"

Xander stood up and half way over, there realization of what was just said hit him. "Hey?"

"Yeah, Xander. Give me some inside pointers on being a bonehead" Spike said with a nasty smile..

"Guys, we running out night. Spike, you said you would help. Listen to Xander." Buffy commanded.

"Oh, very well. Xander, I am sitting at your feet, Oh master of linguistic stagnation." Spike said with much ceremony. Xander put his hand up in exasperation.

"Okay, Spike. The basic cornerstones of the American Loser terminology is the use of the words Dude and Man." Xander began to lecture.

Hearing this, Giles looked at Xander quizzically.

"I never realized you gave such examination to the American Loser terminology." Giles stated.

"Heck, he's been living and breathing it for the past nineteen years." Willow said, with a wicked smile.

"You know, Xander could just go home now." Xander warned the room.

Spike rolled his eyes and blew out a derisive puff of air.

"Go, go on honey. I know you can do it." Anya said supportively.

Xander tried once more and moved on to the pronunciation phase.

"Repeat after me: Duhuuhde …Maaayn." Xander said to Spike.

"Duude…Mahn." Repeated Spike

"No, no that not right". Anya jumped in. " Spike needs to sound like the loser guys who hand around by the pool tables at the Bronze. Okay, you need motivation. Just think desperation, stale laundry and the over-powering smell of Irish Spring."

After about 15 minutes of drilling, Spike started to pick up some of the nuances of the two word they were drilling on. Finally, Buffy decided it was enough. She told Spike it would be better if he tried to keep his mouth shut around other people while they were out.

Buffy was itching to get out and patrol. She had hated spending the time getting the group together to hunt this 'Diye' guy, but she was committed to it. She managed to get everyone to the door for their final instructions. She decided that Xander, Anya and Willow would be one group. That's when Spike spoke up.

"I want Willow to be in our group." He said as he reached over and gently pulled a flattered Willow over to his side. Everyone looked quizzically at the vampire

"What's goin on, Spike?" Buffy asked, testily. She did not like being challenged in her decisions.

"It's just that Willow and I have been getting along splendidly lately. I think it would be safer for her to be with us." Spike said as he laid his arm across her shoulders

Willow felt a slight flush enter her cheeks due to the special attention she was receiving. Buffy's face clouded.

"Spike we don't have time for games." Buffy warned.

"If Spike really wants me to go with him, it's alright with me." Willow said with more than a little conviction.

"Okay, anything to get this show moving." Buffy said, giving up.

…..

After the two groups looped around the park near the refinery and finding nothing, they all headed toward the college campus. Spike begrudgingly bringing up the rear and pointedly staying away from Buffy. He walked steadily behind Anya and Willow as they were chatting about what had happened or had not happened in the park. It had gotten warmer that evening, and Anya had taken off her sweater and was holding it. She looked down and saw her shoe was untied. She asked Willow to hold her sweater while she tied it. Once it was tied, the girls continued their conversation as they walked along, Willow forgetting she was still holding Anya's sweater.

Once they reached the campus, the two groups decided to split up to circle the perimeter. So far, they hadn't found any evil activity going on. It was just after Xander and Anya had disappeared from sight that Willow realized she was still holding on to Anya's sweater.

"Anya! Hold on a sec!" Willow called and ran after the pair. Spike turned around to see Willow disappear around the corner.

"Will.." was all he got out before he felt Buffy's arm wrap itself around his neck from the back.

"So, are you gonna tell me or what? Just what is this fascination with Willow?" Buffy said with a little hurt creeping into her voice.

She spun him around.

"Tell me! What does she mean to you? Is it the witch thing?" Buffy badgered Spike. "You never seem to want to be with me like that."

"Buffy…wha. Cripes! You are taking this bleedin thing too far." Spike sputtered. " I mean, here of all the bloody places…to start this silly game."

"Silly! You call me silly after I see you throwing yourself all over Willow" Buffy said as she started to circle Spike.

"What are you bloody talking about?" Spike said backing away.

"You think I didn't notice you wrapping yourself around her back at the apartment!" she accused him, pointing a finger into his chest.

"You're delusional. What do you care what I bleedin do?" Spike retorted.

"Care? You're asking me why I care. You don't think that see my fiancée falling all over another woman wouldn't affect me?" Buffy responded with a great deal of hurt in her voice.

"Fiancée? What are you talking about, you crazy bint?" Spike just then remembered the spell "You don't mean that proposal the other night? It was.."

"It was a beautiful moment that I'll always remember. You were so tender, so heartfelt, so.." Buffy announced as she approached him

"Uh huh." Spike looking around looking for an escape as he backed up for every step she took forward. His progress was suddenly halted as he hit a tree behind him, bumping the back of his head. She had him cornered now. She placed her hands on his chest, keeping him imprisoned by the tree. She kept coming closer and closer. Then, they heard the sound of firearms being cocked and they were surrounded by commandoes

Buffy froze for a moment as Spike's eyes widened with fear.

"Eew! You're so stupid!" she said angrily as she pushed Spike away with a vehemence. Just what did that stupid vampire get them into now, she thought. Oh well, better to play it off in normal college drama. She looked around and luckily didn't see anyone she knew among the soldiers. Okay, so much, the better, she thought. "And tell your dumb soldier friends that the whole ninja thing is so lame!"

The soldiers seeing that they had come across a human couple in the middle of an argument, stood down. As the weapons were being lowered and stowed by the soldiers, Buffy stomped heatedly away and then turned around.

"Ugh! Don't you try to follow me. Stay here with your ROTC buddies. I don't want to talk to you. I don't care if I never see your face again." she called back. "Do you hear me?"

Spike stood there with a sick look on his face. His eyes bouncing back to commandoes and back to Buffy. His mouth opened and closed in amazement. He couldn't believe that Buffy was just leaving him to the mercy of these commandoes. Was he supposed to follow her or not, he thought anxiously. One of the commandos put his hand on Spike's shoulder. He tried to hide the jolt of fear that traveled through his body.

"Guy, I don't know what you did, but you're sure in the doghouse now." the soldier laughed.

The other men in the patrol group chuckled in agreement. Spike could hear several of the men making comments to one another and laughing at Spike's predicament. Spike slowly began to realize that they did not immediately recognize him as a vampire. It was only a matter of time, he thought. He had to get out of there without causing suspicion.

"What's with all the Dawson's Creek action?" Another man asked.

All the men looked at Spike for his response. Spike looked around at the men surrounding him, then remembering his lessons from earlier in the evening, said "Maaaynn." as he slowly shook his head, looking down. The commandoes all nodded, commiserating with the position that Spike appeared to be in.

"Hey, we've all been there. You didn't do something too stupid did you?" another man asked.

"Duhuuuude" Spike responded, reaching up and making sure his backwards cap was sitting squarely on his head.

"Women are a trip. I remember one time, my girlfriend…"

It was actually a pretty funny story that the soldier told. Spike enjoyed the camaraderie of the soldiers and the support they gave a guy having trouble with his woman. It wasn't until Buffy reappeared with Willow that Spike remembered that he was still in danger.

"Well…Are you going to walk me home or not.?" Buffy demanded. "Or are you having too much fun with your male bonding activities? Am I too early for dancing around the bonfire in loincloths?"

Spike looked to the soldiers and then at Buffy. Just for an instant, he was torn between the two evils set before him. Talking to the soldiers hadn't been that bad…oh wait, they don't know I'm a vampire…the whole chip business. Okay, Buffy it is! he thought. He brought up the shoulders in an apologetic shrug toward the soldiers and started toward Buffy and Willow.

He heard one of the soldiers cough that sounded disturbingly like "P whipped!".

He turned and gave a look of slight betrayal over his shoulder as he shuffled toward Buffy and Willow. As soon as he got close to Buffy, she grumbled as she grabbed his arm and pulled him with her. The trio were soon away from the soldiers. Once Buffy thought they were sufficiently away, she let go of Spike's arm and spun him around. Willow stood back from the couple, she knew this could get violent.

"Just what were you doing back there, Spike?" Buffy demanded.

"Trying to survive the exact situation I didn't want to be in. Thanks for the rescue by the way, it had all the charm and elegance of a great white shark attack." Spike retaliated.

"Spike, if you think I wasn't tempted to leave you there…" Buffy warned

"Oh please tell me. When does this plane land from this crazy One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest trip you've got me on?" Spike declared dramatically. "First you hate me, then you start playing your nasty little games with me…I can't take it!"

As he said the last sentence, Willow became aware of a hissing voice cutting through the air. It reminded her of the park near the refinery.

"Hey, guys….guys." Willow called over to the arguing pair, but they were too much involved with their current argument to notice. "I really think you guys should listen.."

It was just then that Spike felt the first slight pull. He stopped talking and looked at Buffy, his face filled with dread. Seeing his face, Buffy also stopped talking and reach toward him to shake him. Then, all at once, Spike was on the ground. He pulled at the ground, digging up dirt and grass with his hands to stop the merciless influence that was dragging him away. It did little to slow his progress as he was being pulled toward a a dimly lit area at the corner of the campus.

Buffy ran over and grabbed him, hoping to pull him from the creature's grasp. She could not slow his progress as the two of them were drug another twenty feet. From her crouched position over Spike, Buffy could see the creature drawing them to the dark portal. Willow called out to them and started to move toward them, but Buffy yelled to stay back. As Willow watched, the pair were continued to be dragged unrelentingly toward the creature. Hearing the noise, Xander and Anya came running up and stood by Willow.

Without warning, the ring on Buffy's finger began to glow. The glow became a dark red and began to grow until it surrounded Buffy and Spike. There was a strange hum that came from the glow till everything was reverberating with the hum in the area. Then, all at once, the glow shot off as a huge ball of red light in the direction of the creature. In that instance, the creature and it's portal were gone. No longer feeling the pull, Buffy stood while Spike sat up and looked over at the area where the portal had been. There was nothing there. Spike stood up as Willow, Xander and Anya came running over. None of them knew what happened.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 11

As the group returned to Giles' place, they made a loud commotion coming through the door. The noise coming from the Xander, Anya and Willow was offset by the eerily calm and quiet vampire and slayer that followed them. Spike and Buffy did not participate in the energetic conversation going on at the table around Giles. They were much too wrapped up in their own thoughts about the evening's events. Spike walked past the group at the table and made his way over to the living room. Buffy, on the other hand, lingered by the front door, lost in her own thoughts.

Spike ended up sitting on the couch, staring straight ahead, paying no mind to the frenzied discussion going on behind him. He and Buffy had started out the evening in their typical antagonistic fashion, sniping at each other and she even pulled her nasty little game on him. The last thing that Spike expected was for Buffy to save him. Spike slightly shifted his eyes to the area where Buffy was standing. He thought he was a lost cause when he felt the pull from the creature. Then, when she grabbed hold of him to keep him from being dragged toward the creature, that surprised him more than he could imagine. The slayer's behavior was puzzling to him. It left him with an out of sorts feeling that he couldn't define.

Buffy kept repeating the evening's events in her head. She and Spike had been engrossed in one of their typical arguments when that thing suddenly interrupted. They were volleying the insults back and forth in their typical rhythm Just when she was winning, that incredibly rude creature butted in. Where did it get off just butting in when she was arguing with Spike? As she rolled the thoughts over in her mind, Buffy rubbed her forehead. She didn't even want to think of what made her seize him when she saw that look appear on his face. It was just instinct she told herself. Spike was under her protection now, and nothing was going to interfere with that. Yeah, yeah that's it – it was strictly professional - Slayer wise, that is. Buffy shook off her mental thunderstorm and started to pay attention to what was going on at the table.

The remaining Scoobies had surrounded Giles, each trying to impart their own particular version of the night's encounter with the creature. Giles put up his hands and asked for quiet as he tried to piece together the evening's events.

"Just what exactly happened tonight? Giles patiently asked the excited people surrounding him.

"Well, it was like this." Xander spilled out. "There was this black cloud with a thing that was muttering some kind of bad coffee house poetry."

"I don't think he was muttering. I think he was chanting." Willow interjected.

"I couldn't tell. I couldn't see his mouth." Anya added. "In fact, I don't think he had a mouth."

"Well, what did it say? Do you remember any of it?" Giles asked.

"It wasn't really clear." Xander stated. "It sounded more along the lines of "wishy washa wishy washa"."

"He wasn't saying that!" Willow said

"That why I said he was muttering!" Xander exploded.

"Giles, Xander is probably not the best source for this information." Anya confided. "He can't even understand rap on the radio."

"Enough! Obviously, we're not going to be able to decipher what the creature said from that eyewitness account." Giles said, briefly putting his head in his hands. "Moving on. What did it look like?"

"It was a big thing. It was kinda tall but had really thin legs and arms, kinda like strange metallic Adrien Brody."

"Ooh. I like him." Anya burst in and then looking at Xander's face added. " The human, not the creature."

"It was more like an entity. It kinda had a look when your grandparents' old home movies are over-exposed, you know, all flashy and like that. Willow added.

"Please stop. Let's go over this step by step." Giles again tried to gain control of this discussion. "What was happening when this creature appeared."

"Spike and Buffy were arguing. Yeah, who da thunk it?" Willow said with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Hmm.. Yes, if that were a cause, we would have an portal ripped open in my living room."

"Anyway, all of a sudden, it got all whispery and that thing got a hold of Spike. It started to drag him away and that's when Buffy grabbed hold of Spike." Willow told Giles. "They were both being dragged toward the portal and then for some reason, the thing let go and disappeared."

"Did you see any reason why it let go?" Giles asked.

There was a moment of quiet around the table as the Scoobies stopped to think.

"Well, I did see a kind a red glow around Buffy and Spike" Anya said.

"I definitely heard a humming noise right before the creature disappeared." Willow stated

"I could have sworn I saw something shoot away from Buffy and Spike toward the creature." Xander added.

Spike had gotten up off the couch and made his way over to where Buffy was standing by the door. There was a definite unease about his person while he was standing there, the cocky vampire arrogance had momentarily disappeared. Not looking directly at her, Spike cleared his throat and said. "About what happened tonight…with the creature… Um.. thanks."

"Don't mention it." Buffy replied in a monotone voice, staring away from the vampire toward the group at the table.

"Yeah, okay. You really didn't have to…" Spike started to say but was cut off by Buffy's reply.

"Seriously, DON'T mention it." Buffy turned her head and glared directly at Spike's face.

"If you two would deign to join us. I believe I would like to hear from all parties involved about tonight." Giles called over to the pair.

Buffy walked away from the vampire and went to the far side of the table. Spike slowly followed and stood on the opposite side of the table. Giles began to put the incident together. He knew that the creature had appeared on the campus and had tried to abduct Spike and Buffy. The Scoobies witnessed a red energy surround the pair as they were being dragged. It shot off at the creature which made the creature and its' portal suddenly disappear. What could have caused such an energy to occur thought Giles

"Willow, you didn't perform any spells?" Giles asked the young witch.

"No, I have been refraining since our last encounter with the Diye guy." She said as she shook her head slightly.

"Hmm.." As Giles pulled off his glasses to clean them. He looked at the group surrounding the table.

"Spike, what about you? Are you wearing any magical charms?"

"Not my thing, Watcher." The vampire responded.

"There is absolutely nothing charming about Spike" Xander joked..

Silence filled the room as the group looked at Xander as if he had just dropped a number of IQ points

"Buffy, what about you? Anything new? Giles continued with his survey.

"Not really." Buffy said as she looked down. "Maybe you could think of this ring as new."

"Hey, that's my ring." Spike demanded. " Give it back!"

"No. You gave it to me and I want to wear it for a while." Buffy said with a profound pout. " I might give it back to you, but I don't know yet."

The whole room heard the grumble that came out of Spike.

"May I see the ring, Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Okay." As she held out her hand with the ring on it.

"Would you take it off, please?" Giles asked expectantly.

"I don't want to." Buffy said sullenly. "Spike may grab it back."

With a sigh, Giles took hold of Buffy's hand and examined the ring on her finger.

"This looks to be quite old. I can't tell what kind of stone this is. There seems to be an inscription." Giles said as he studied the ring. "Xander, please bring that lamp over here."

With the additional light and the use of a extremely powerful magnifying glass, Giles was able to decipher the lettering of the first words on the ring, the rest of the inscription was too worn away.

"Kalperan Merak" Giles said. "Willow, did you see anything in your research on a ring?"

"No, nothing came up about a ring." Willow responded. "I did find a brief mention of a wizard that used a staff in regards to the folklore about the portal."

"Look, Watcher. I realize that your little group puts great store in the childrens books that you've been looking at all day, but there was nothing valuable to be found in them in regards to this situation." Spike stated.

"Shut up Spike. Like you were such a great help throwing your great big morose all over the room today." Buffy growled as she pulled her hand from Giles' grasp. She walked a few steps until she was directly across the table from Spike.

"At least, I know when something is a futile effort. Those books wouldn't help anyone except to put a child asleep." Spike sniffed.

"Really, I have alternate method of putting someone to sleep." She said shaking her fist at Spike.

"Is that right? Well, I wish you and your Scoobies well on fruitless journey on finding out what Kelperan Merak means." Spike responded.

The ring suddenly went from a dark stone to a shining red. The glare caught the attention of everyone except the couple arguing across the table. All at once, Buffy reached across the table grabbed Spike by the collar and pulled him toward her as she crushed her mouth against his.

Giles and the Scoobies froze with their mouths open as they watched pair. It was reminiscent of people watching a car accident, you can't really stop it, but you know it is not going to end well.

"Love you, sweetheart." She murmured to him as she looked at him coyly.

Shaking off his shock, Spike responded with three little words:

"Oh, Bloody hell!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 12

Spike struggled to back away from the table as he tried unsuccessfully to disengage Buffy's hands from his collar. The various noises of disgust from Scoobies and Giles erupted from the other end of the table. As the couple struggled, Willow began to move forward to Buffy's side with a look of concern for her friend.

"Oh Dear Lord, Buffy!" Giles implored, when he was once again able to speak.

Giles stood up as Anya retreated into Xander's arms, keeping her eyes averted from the troubling sight. Xander's face perfectly captured the combination of horror and astonishment as he pulled Anya to his chest. He yelled over her head at the pair.

"Spike! What are you doing? Let Buffy go!" Xander commanded angrily at the vampire.

"Buffy. Buffy." Willow called with concern as she neared Buffy.

As Willow reached her friend, she pulled Buffy back and Buffy's grasp on Spike was broken. Spike staggered back from the table, shuddering and obviously freaked out. He turned his body away from the table retreating as he tried to gain control. He held his hands up in front of him jerking from position to position. His hands were up in front of him and clenching and opening his fingers as if to deflect some sort of attack. He couldn't make a coherent word; the only sounds coming from his were "Eech!" "Wuuh" and "Uugh!" Finally, Spike finally froze into a tense stance as he let go a gigantic deep breath. He stared before him as his hand traveled up toward his mouth and stopped a few inches from his mouth. It was as if there were acid on his mouth and he didn't want to spread it on his person. He slowly shifted his eyes to look over at Buffy who was looking back at him with Willow's arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"That's it! That's it! I have bloody well had enough of this!" yelled the vampire as he threw his hand down.

The ring had maintained his brilliant red color on Buffy's hand, but no one noticed, since they were all still in a state of astonishment regarding the recent event at the table. Buffy looked at Spike with bewilderment.

"What's the matter, honey?" She said with obvious concern on her face.

Everyone in the room was shocked at what Buffy had just said. Willow pulled back and looked at Buffy with shock clearly on her face. Spike's eyes widened at the sound of the endearment, he then looked over at Giles. Giles' forehead was creased with worry lines as he began to slightly mangle his glasses in his hand. Anya was busy trying to slip into some type of catatonia in order to avoid acknowledging the act she had just witnessed. Meanwhile, Xander who could never think ill of Buffy, looked over to Spike, his eyes narrowing at the vampire.

"What did you do, deadboy?" Xander testily demanded of the vampire. He was sure that Spike was responsible somehow.

"You lay off him!" Buffy broke away from Willow's arms and suddenly wheeled around to address Xander. "I hate how you're always picking on him."

Willow could see Buffy's eyes as she said those words and saw the genuine feeling behind them. She first brought her hand up in surprise but then reached down to hold her friend's hand in sympathy. Giles abruptly sat down with a look that was reminiscent of the after effects of a blow to the head. His head was swimming with thoughts as he tried to put some perceptive on what he had just witnessed. Anya pointedly kept her eyes away from the vampire and slayer and proceeded to curl her arm around Xander's bicep, looking for comfort. Xander, on the other head, had a stunned expression on his face over the fact that Buffy had challenged him over such a thing as Spike.

The vampire was going through a crisis of his own a few feet away. Spike was torn between warring emotions going on inside of him. He had now had proof before the entire group, that he wasn't crazy which gave him some sort of crazy satisfaction. On the other hand, Buffy was still playing her silly game with him, even extending the torture so far as to kiss in front of everyone. What the hell was going on with the slayer? Then on top of that, did he just hear her jump to his defense? For the second time this evening, he was at unease with his conflicting emotions.

"Everyone, just stop for a moment." Giles called out. "We need to analyze this whole situation."

"What situation is that?" Buffy asked innocently.

"Buffy, you don't think something odd happened here this evening?" Willow gently prodded.

"Well, there was that thing on campus, obviously." Buffy answered diffidently. "Is that what you're talking about?"

"No, I think Giles is talking about what just happened." Willow said lowly to her friend.

"What do you mean?" Buffy scrunched up one side of her face in puzzlement.

"Buffy, you don't think what just happened was oh, you know … WIERD?" Xander asked pointedly.

"What just happened?" Buffy looked over at Xander in disbelief. "I mean I just kissed Spike."

"Yahah! You don't think that was weird? Or let's say unnatural? Or abnormal? Or deviant? Or …?" Xander responded with some exasperation.

The vampire made a little huffing sound and rolled his eyes. He had had enough of this stupid little game and it was time for it to end right now he thought.

"Oh, come on, Slayer. I think it is now time that you confessed up to your little game." Spike confronted Buffy from his spot a few feet away. "Everyone just saw you kiss me!"

"Spike, baby, what's going on with you this evening? Are you okay? You really seem out of sorts." Buffy looked at her vampire, cocking her head and looking at him with concerned affection.

"What's going on with me?" Spike threw up his hand and turned away from the slayer. "That's bleedin rich!" He walked a few steps away and then turned back to look at the slayer.

"Buffy, let me understand you." Giles interrupted. "What made you kiss Spike just then?"

"Why not? He looked like he needed a good kiss" Buffy said, smiling at the vampire.

Anya made a little noise and pushed face into Xander's chest.

"Eegh! I mean Ohh." Giles said looking away while trying to concentrate on scientific methods.

"Why are you all acting this way?" Buffy looked around at her friends. "I mean this can't be unknown activity for an engaged couple?"

It was like a bomb had been set off in the room, everyone reared back at the last comment. Giles and Xander looked over to Willow. Willow took a step back and raised her upturned hands while shaking her head.

"Honestly guys! I haven't cast any more spells." Willow announced, with her hand in the air like taking an oath.

Spike put his hand to head and groaned. He couldn't believe that the Slayer was trotting out the whole engagement scenario out again. He looked up to the ceiling, looking for any sort of strength to get him through this evening. When he found none, he resigned himself to the fact that he would have to deal with the situation himself. With a huge sigh, he looked down as he relaxed his shoulders in preparation of what was turning out to be an extremely long evening.

"Willow, are you sure that you were able to undo your Will Be Done spell?" Giles asked, giving Willow a serious glance.

"Yeah. I am sure. I mean you're not blind anymore. Xander is not attracting demons anymore, except at his normal rate." Willow asked and then turning to the vampire. "And Spike….Spike, you don't think you're engaged."

"No, I do not!" Spike loudly declared.

"See…." Willow held up her hand toward the vampire.

A hurt sound came out of Buffy, as everyone turned to see her face crumple. "Spike..." was all that came out of her mouth as her eyes became filled with unspilled tears.

Spike looked over at Buffy. Her reaction to his declaration disconcerted him; the tears, the look of hurt all added up to one emotional weapon against the vampire. He urgently looked over to Giles and the Scoobies, not knowing what move he should next make. They were consumed staring at Buffy, so there was little they could offer in response to his questioning look. Although, Buffy was not among his favorite people, he did not want to make her cry. He knew he had to say something…something to make it stop…

"Buffy, pet, uuh… don't' cry. I wasn't …you know" Spike said haltingly.

Buffy suddenly brightened, the tears quickly disappearing. She remembered the vampire had wanted to keep their engagement secret. She was disappointed with herself for letting it slip out. Oh well, the cat is out the bag.

"No, I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know you weren't ready for everyone to know we were engaged and I just spilled the beans." Buffy apologized. "Oh well, too late now." She ran over the other side of the table and wrapped her arm around the vampire's, and announced. "If you haven't figured it out yet. Spike and I are engaged."

She held up her left hand for everyone as the ring glowed a brilliant red. Spike had a pained expression as he looked at Buffy's gleeful demeanor beside him. Everyone was looking at the strange couple, then all of sudden, Giles noticed the change in the color of the ring.


	13. Chapter 13

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 13

Just when Spike was about to open his mouth to object to Slayer's announcement, Giles caught his eye. Giles stared at the vampire with a fearsome expression as he shook his head in a telling move. The Watcher was telling the vampire not to dispute the claim that Buffy had just made. It was obvious that Buffy was under some kind of influence and it would be better to just play along till they got things figured out. Giles was studying the Slayer with an intense scrutiny to analyze how deeply she was affected by this spell.

Spike stared back at the Watcher, trying to decide what to do. He decided to take the Watcher's advice as drew his lips back in a grimace. The vampire turned his head and glowered at the ebullient girl holding on to his arm. Buffy bounced on her heels with joy, giving his arm a playful squeeze every now and then. Spike, slowly and with great intent, brought up his right hand and gingerly attempted to pull her fingers from around his arm. For every finger he managed to pry off, it quickly resumed its place before he could move on to the next one. Spike slowly began to lean away from the slayer, still making every attempt to cautiously disentangle himself from the situation. The Slayer was acting oddly, so it could become dangerous very quickly for him. There could be no telling what her next move might be. He was torn between the options of not wanting to aggravate the situation and all out running away in terror. He decided that the best course of action was to treat the situation as if he had just had come across an angry swarm of bees- "No sudden movements" he kept chanting in head.

The Scoobies were still trying to recover from the jarring effect of the announcement they had just heard. They looked at each other in a staggering concussion of shock and revulsion. Willow stood there with her head turning back and forth between Giles and Xander. Her eyelids were blinking so fast, they might have been sending out some sort message via Morse code. Xander, on the other hand, was waiting for the punch line of this terrible joke. He hoped any minute an over-stimulated, ADD addled Ashton Kutcher would bust in and tell him that he had been punked.

Anya suddenly perked up when the word "engaged' sunk through the fog in her head. Anya's eyes brightened as she took quick breath of air when she grasped what had just been said. She broke out of Xander's arms with a squeal and ran over to Buffy. She clutched Buffy by the shoulders and brought her towards her for a quick hug. Upon releasing her, Anya gently cupped Buffy's face in her hands and leaned in to congratulate the newly engaged Buffy.

"You're engaged! That is wonderful, even if it is to Spike." Anya told the beaming Buffy. " I believe now it is customary that we hold each other's hands in front and jump up in down in excitement."

Buffy cheerfully joined Anya in the little ritual which gave Giles and the Scoobies time to recover their wits. Spike had been slowly increasing the distance between him and the Slayer once she had let go of his arm. He had not managed to get very far, when Buffy stopped jumping and pulled him back beside her. His face was a picture of pained disgruntlement as he was dragged back to her.

"Yes, we're so happy!" she said enthusiastically as she leaned her head on Spike's shoulder. Spike wrinkled his face in ill-disguised disgust. He looked over to Giles, Spike's eyes telling the watcher that the vampire needed assistance. In an effort to relieve the situation, Giles walked over to couple from his seat, taking a bracing deep breath of air as he came forward. He stood before the couple and put on a tremulous smile.

"Congratulations." He said to Buffy. "May I kiss the bride?"

"Oh, Giles!" Buffy blushed and turned her head so Giles could kiss her check. Giles leaned over and gave Buffy a quick kiss on the cheek. Buffy gave a little self satisfied giggle and rewrapped herself around Spike's arm. Spike looked up at the ceiling, tensely puffing our his cheeks and shaking his head at the situation. Giles straightened up and turned slightly to Spike.

"You're a lucky man, I mean vampire." Giles said as he held out his hand to Spike

Spike looked at the hand suspended in front of his and then looked up at Giles with a look of stunned betrayal. Giles nodded his head forward and looked over at Buffy with his eyes and back to Spike. He intimated that the vampire should just cooperate. Spike put his hand over Buffy's in an effort to loosen her grip before shaking Giles' hand.

"Thank you. I'm overwhelmed." Spike muttered, with a direct stare at Giles.

Watching Giles congratulate the couple, Willow was soon behind him in a show of solidarity. Willow approached Buffy, whose eyes were glistening with tears.

"Can you believe it?" Buffy asked her dear friend, wiping a tear of happiness that leaked out of one eye.

"It's absolutely unreal." Willow responded truthfully as she hugged her best friend. Buffy again grabbed hold of Spike before he had a chance to move away. Spike's mouth wrinkled in irritation and he let out a small snort of air through his nose. Willow looked over the beleaguered vampire and tried to give him a small boost of condolence.

"Spike, who would have thought?" Willow said with perplexed look at the vampire.

"Certainly, not me. I guess I really fell into it." Spike responded with a certain amount of irony.

Xander was dragged over by Anya and found himself in front of Spike and Buffy. Anya was standing behind him, whispering in his ear, prodding him to congratulate the couple. He stood there for a moment stormily regarding the couple, then a grin swept its way across his face. Watching Spike's cross expression, he decided to have a little fun with the situation. Turning toward Buffy, but keeping his eyes on Spike he said with an ingratiating grin.

"Buffy, this is so surprising, so sudden..You and Spike.. So when's the big day?"

Spike glared at Xander, narrowing his eyes and curling his lip at the idiotic dolt.

"Oh, we haven't discussed it yet but soon." Buffy said as she briefly looked over at Spike who was staring daggers at Xander.

"Soon, huh? I hope there's no shotgun involved." Xander said chuckling. "Am I to expect any little demon babies flying around here in the near future?" With a slow burn of anger going up his spine, Spike slowly shook his head at the Whelp. Xander was clearly enjoying himself too much to be distracted by it.

"Oh, no. Not yet." Buffy said demurely, but then she cuddled up to the vampire and said with a simper "But, soon"

As she finished that sentence, Spike's head suddenly whipped around looking for any avenue that could be used as an exit. He thought if he could get to the utility room, he was willing to even try the dryer vent. If the Slayer thought that he was going to play Daddy to a herd of half slayer/half vampire rug rats, she had another thing coming. He had spent way too much time perfecting his vampire personae just to become someone's old Da. He pictured a future filled with over-ripe smelling minivans, sticky strollers and overturned sippy cups partially filled with stale blood…Oh No, she definitely had the wrong vampire. Just then, Giles spoke up.

"Why don't we all move to the living room?"

Giles waved over the remaining Scoobies to join him over near the fireplace. As they gathered near, he informed them of his suspicions about Buffy and the ring. In response, they turned and watched the mismatched couple make their way to the sofa. Buffy who still had a hold of Spike, was dragging the resistant vampire toward the sofa. Spike was doing his best to stop the progress, but was unable to stop the bizarre procession to the living room. His steps were halting and stilted, but Buffy finally got them both to the sofa. Buffy pushed Spike down to sit on the couch and then situated herself on his knee. She pulled his arm around her waist and then arranged her arms around his neck. Spike's eyes were staring at the watcher through this entire process¸ brewing with ill contained anger. The only sound coming from the vampire was the sound of the heavy breathing coming from his nose.

Giles realized that it was only a matter of time before the vampire would lose control and the entire scene would take a drastic turn in mood. He needed to get information from the pair and it would be much easier if they were cooperative.

"So, you two, how long has this been going on?" Giles asked, wanting to know what Buffy's perspective was on the situation.

"It seems like forever." Buffy said as she started to free Spike's curls on top of his head from the gel that was holding them down and began playing with them with a small sigh. Spike pulled his head back from her irritating fingers and said

"Yep, I have to bloody well agree with that statement."

Willow spoke up. "So, Spike, that's an interesting ring. Where did you get it?"

"It's been in my Mother's family for generations. My grandfather gave it to me shortly before he died" Spike answered, watching Buffy suspiciously out of the corner of his eye.

"Really? How far back does it go?" Willow watched Buffy who began to trace Spike's ear with her finger.

"There's a family story that one of my ancestors brought it back from the Crusades." Spike said as he was pulling his head away from Buffy's hand. He reached up with his free hand and caught hers. "Would you stop? I am trying to have a conversation here." Buffy pouted for a moment in reaction to the scolding, then a slow evil smile crossed her face as her eyes flitted over the vampire.

Giles suddenly interrupted. "Crusades, you say? Which one?"

"I don't know. I didn't pay much attention. I was just a child at the time. The ring should have gone to my uncle, but he died unexpectedly." Spike looked over suspiciously at the Slayer. When she started to make a move toward him, he gave her a look of warning. Thwarted, Buffy leaned back against the vampire, putting her head on her bent arm on his shoulder. She was watching him as if every word he spoke was fascinating.

Xander got up and left the room, the little scene had gotten too much for him. He retreated into the kitchen for a respite from the peculiar little display of affection going on in the living room. Willow and Giles were intent on getting as much information as they could on the ring from the vampire. Willow and Giles sat there in thought, then Willow asked a telling question.

"Spike, what was your mother's maiden name?"

"Brask."

At that moment, Xander stood at the entrance of the kitchen and frantically waved over Anya, Giles and Willow. He had just about had enough of the entire absurd spectacle with Buffy and Spike. As they came closer to the kitchen, Xander wanted to know what the situation was on breaking the spell.

"Well? Did you find out anything to break up this freakshow? We gotta free Buffy from this spell! It's getting seriously psychotic over there." Xander asked desperately.

Giles held up his hands to Xander to calm down. "Okay, Xander. We got some information about the ring. We'll research it tomorrow to see what we can do about the spell on Buffy."

"I think we better be quick. Spike looks like he is about to lose it." Willow said as she was looking at the couple on the couch.

Spike sat back as Buffy wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as she started to feverishly whisper in his ear. She looked at his face with eager anticipation and nodded as Spikes slowly turned his head and looked at her with his eyes wide.

"No, no, no, no, no.." he said as he slowly slid Buffy off his lap. She looked at him with air of disappointment. He managed to slide over a few inches away from Buffy. Willow moved over behind the sofa where she could hear the conversation. Spike had obviously just been propositioned, and was trying to extricate himself very carefully.

"Oh come on! We're both adults. We're engaged, so what's there to stop us?" Buffy said advancing on the retreating vampire.

It's just…just..ah" Spike looked frantically around the room. He saw Willow standing there and appealed to her with his eyes. Willow mouthed the word "Wait" at Spike. It took a moment, but Spike finally became aware of what Willow was telling him. He sat up straight and using his little used Victorian background, said " I think we should wait."

"But, why?" Buffy said, tilting her head and then proceeded to close the gap between them again.

"Yes, Why?" Spike grasped Buffy's shoulders to keep her at arms' length. He looked again over at Willow with a questioning look.

Once again, Willow mouthed a word at Spike. With terror, he realized that he could not decipher what she was saying. He shook his head slightly at her with a desperate look in his eyes. Willow ran over to the table, grabbed a pen and wrote a word on a piece of paper. She came back and held it up behind Buffy's head. Spike saw the words and gave a sigh of relief.

"I want it to be special, luv." Spike said with a little triumph in his voice.

"But you were with Drucilla and Harmony…" Buffy said exasperatedly.

"Just passin fancies. I was never going to marry either one of them."

"Oh, It's not fair." Buffy sat back disappointed. " You know, we could pretend that we were just passing fancies…" Buffy offered with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh. Hmm. We could….but I don't think…well..uh….wait.." With that admission, Buffy was suddenly up against Spike. She was intent on seducing him, hovering just inches away from him. Again, Spike looked over beseechingly to Willow for help. Willow rolled her eyes and went back to the table. After a moment, she had returned and held up another piece of paper. In an act of desperation, Spike spoke the words aloud as he read them, his voice going up on the last word:

"I'm not that kind of vampire."


	14. Chapter 14

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 14

After sending everyone home, Giles was finally able to talk to Spike. He informed the astounded vampire about his suspicions regarding the ring. Spike brought a hand up to his head and looked around the room.

"My ring? My stupid ring is causing all this?" Spike asked incredulously.

Spike, who had already had a trying couple of days, spent the rest of the night pacing back and forth in the living room. He was tried to bring up any memory about the ring that could explain how this current sticky situation came about. He pulled at memories of his human childhood that he had not thought about in more than a hundred years. He pulled at his hair as he brought up the memories from his early childhood.

Spike or rather, William had been the third child of his parents, James and Anne. He had had an older brother, James Douglas and sister, Rose Emeline who had each died before they reached the age of two. His little sister, Lucinda Anne who he had called Lulu had lived to the age of three before she too had died of a common childhood illness. There had not been much hope for him living long as well, since he was a small for his age and always seem to be a little oversensitive. He remembered after Lulu had passed away, his mother came more often to the nursery to spend time with him. His mother, Anne would dismiss the nurse, Belworthy and take him by the hand to the small garden at the back of the house herself. She would sit on a bench and smile as her eyes followed him as he ran back and forth, yelling at the top of his lungs like small boys do. On occasion, his remote and lofty father would make a brief appearance, shake his head at his child's reckless behavior in the garden and would pause by Spike's mother.

"Where does he get that behavior? He is like a savage." Spike's father, James wondered out loud.

"From my side" his mother, Anne said simply as she enjoyed her remaining living child's antics.

One afternoon in the garden, William impulsively pulled a rose off one of the bushes and ran over to present it to Anne. She made a great deal of gift being presented to her as she took it from his hand. Smiling, she put the rose up to her nose and smelled it like it was a rare perfume, while still holding on to his hand. She looked down at the small hand and saw that he had torn his hand on the thorns when he pulled the rose from the bush for her. She gently cradled the small hand in hers as she pulled out her lace edged handkerchief and pressed it against the wound. Pulling the cloth away, she kissed the small injury delicately. Pulling him close, she cradled him in her arms against her, and then she looked down at his small earnest face and brushed her hand against his cheek. She called him her brave hero and William's heart melted. It was in these moments, that William became totally devoted to his mother.

Swallowing hard and shaking his head to dispel that poignant memory, Spike turned his attention to what he could remember about the ring. It was late in the afternoon of an unseasonably warm autumn day when the messenger arrived at the house. Father had been called away to business meeting near Bristol a day earlier. Spike's mother, Anne received the message alone. Spike remembered sitting on the rug covered floor of his nursery playing with a toy when his mother suddenly appeared at the door. There was an urgency about her that caused him to freeze as he looked up at her. She turned toward the nurse.

"Get William ready to travel. We're leaving within the hour." Anne sternly told the nurse.

"Shall I come too, mum?" Belworthy, the nurse asked.

"No, it is not necessary. William and I will be going to my father's estate. Please make sure he is dressed warmly. Pack enough clothes for several days." Spike's mother informed the nurse.

Spike remembered leaning against his mother in the back of the jostling carriage as they made the several hours trip to his grandfather's estate. Anne pulled her little son to her as she wrapped an arm around his torso as they bounced along the country roads. William watched the shadows of trees grow long as the sun set and darkness begin to overtake the interior of the carriage. Being a child, the darkness began to worry him, but he knew he had to be brave for his mother. "Wasn't he her brave hero?" he asked himself. When Anne and William arrived at the grand looming manor, it was several hours past twilight. William had never been to his grandfather's estate before. He had rarely seen the imposing man in his lifetime. He had a hazy recollection of seeing his giant foreboding grandfather at his sister, Lulu's funeral but that was all.

His mother drew him out of the carriage and held his hand as they walked into the great entry hall. William looked all around at the massive hall as he drew up his other hand to hold on to his mother's hand with both of his. From the urgent pace of his mother's stride, it was obvious that his mother was on an urgent mission. She did not look down at him as they made their way back to the grand staircase. Once she got there, an oddly familiar woman was standing there with a maid by her side. William stared at the lady who seemed so reminiscent of his mother.

"How is he?" Anne asked as she began to unbutton her coat.

"It won't be long. I see you brought the boy." The woman then motioned toward the maid with her head to assist with the removal of the coats. The maid moved forward and held up the back of Anne's coat so she could remove her arms. The maid took the coat and folded it over her arm and waited.

"Yes." Anne, now free of her own coat, bent down to unbutton the child's coat. William staggered a little bit as Anne's hands came up forcefully on the buttons of his coat.

"William, this is my sister. She is your Auntie Charlotte. Say hello." Anne said in an instructive manner, indicating the familiar woman.

"Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you, Auntie Charlotte." William looked over at the lady and parroted from years of training in Victorian manners. Anne turned William around and pulled the coat from the small body and handed it to the waiting maid. The maid turned and handed the coats to another maid who came up and then disappeared with the coats. William turned back toward the two women, who were discussing a subject he could not quite follow. After a moment, Anne looked down at the child waiting there, who was looking back at her with tired eyes.

A wrinkle of concern crossed Anne's face as she said. "I think William should get his supper and be put to bed. It has been a long day."

"Of course. One of the maids will take care of him." Charlotte turned toward the maid with the coats. "Hibbs, please take care of Master William. See that he is fed and put to bed. Put him in one of the bedrooms on the second floor. Please have one of the hall boys light a fire in the room, so the child does not get chilled."

He remembered being fed a simple supper and being tucked into a large ornately decorated bed with dark fearsome carvings that seemed in the firelight to want to enclose him like a hand closing upon him. It was situated in an imposing, almost sepulchrally grand bedroom on the second floor. He was not use to such a big bed that hovered almost four feet above the floor; he was so small that the stool beside the bed had been insufficient to assist him in climbing on the bed. He had had to be lifted onto the bed and was now stranded on it like a top of a tower. As William peered out as ominous shadows being thrown about by the gigantic fireplace in the room; he thought he would never get to sleep. He could hear people moving about in the hallway, the sound of footsteps and low conversations were creeping in underneath the door. It was very different from the small bright nursery at the top of the house that always had a nurse in attendance. William curled himself up against the back of the bed, tightly pulling the blanket around his body. Despite the fear and unease, William did not realize he had fallen asleep until he was woken by his mother.

Suddenly, in the dark, his mother appeared. She smoothed his hair and pulled back the covers as she said, "William. William, wake up!"

She sat up the half dazed boy and turned him so his legs were over the edge of the bed. He blinked slowly at his mother, not quite awake. Anne stood up and set William on his feet. She pulled his hand to walk with him in a strangely urgent, but tensely restrained manner. She was so intent on him coming with her, she had not realized that she had rushed him out of the bedroom. William became aware that he was not wearing a robe or slippers as they moved down the hallway. He trailed behind his mother's fast moving gate in only his nightshirt. William was being embarrassed about being seen in it. He was old enough for trousers now and didn't want anyone to mistake him for a baby. Luckily, it seemed that the household staff had gone to bed, so there were no witnesses to his mortification. His child's mind focused on the feel of the cold floor underneath his feet and the small slapping sound they made as they went down the hall.

Anne and William entered a grand bedroom at the end of the hall. It was lit by gaslight which gave it an eerie golden light to the room. In the middle of the room was a bed with a massive canopy hanging over it. Lying against the back of the bed, with his eyes closed was his formidable looking grandfather. Anne walked up with William by the hand till she stood about ten feet away from the gentleman. Spike's grandfather opened his eyes and looked over at the pair.

Spike's grandfather looked at his renegade daughter with strange regret. She had run off to marry the man she loved despite the consequences. It had caused a great rift in the family. James was considered highly unsuitable, but the two had been adamant about their love and had run off to Greenwich to marry without consent. It also turned out to be the saving factor for this family. Now that his son had died, there would have been no one in the bloodline to accept the boon, if his daughter had been obedient. Maybe, the stars were right to ingrain such a gritty determination in his ever surprising daughter. She had brought her child to accept the boon and continue the stewardship.

"Let the child come forward." Spike's grandfather intoned.

Anne looked down at her little boy and smiled. She pulled her hand from his and place it on his back, urging him forward to the bed. William didn't understand exactly what was going on, but he managed to walk over to the bed that held his grandfather.

"So, let's see what we have here." Spike's grandfather said gently. He tilted William's chin up to look in the child's eyes. His grandfather's brilliant blue eyes looking deep into William's.

"I see a warrior. Good. We will need one. He will follow his own path of stars, quite different than anyone else has." As he said it, Anne's father looked over at her. Anne smiled but a nervous twist of her lip gave away her concern for her little boy.

"I have a gift for you." The grandfather said gravely to the little boy. "You have to promise to be brave and strong. Do you think you can do it?"

William nodded, with an honesty in his gaze that only a small child can bring.

"I have this ring for you. You must promise that you will only give it to one you love with all your heart. Do you promise?" His grandfather spoke directly to him.

"Yes." William said solemnly.

"There is a great secret that goes with this ring. I will tell you but we have to see if the ring will accept you first. Hold out your hand. "

William held out his hand and his grandfather placed the ring in his palm. The man closed the child's hand around the ring. The ring began to get very hot inside William's hand, and a hum began to come from the ring. A red glow began to envelope his fist as the vibration got louder. The red glow left his hand and moved over to his heart. Then, suddenly, William reared back in pain. Anne had to keep herself from charging over to grab her child away. Then, just as suddenly, William seemed to relax. His eyes were closed and seemed to have a distant expression on his face.

Spike's grandfather leaned over and whispered something in the child's ear. William nodded in response. The old man then brought a finger up to the child's lips in a gesture not to talk. At that touch, William's eyes flew open wide. They were now the same bright blue as his grandfather's.

Late the next morning, when Giles came downstairs, he found Spike asleep sitting up on the sofa, his head resting back and his arm flung across the back. Shaking his head at a kind of sympathy for the beleaguered vampire, Giles made his way over to the kitchen to make some morning tea. Giles suspected that it was going to be another tough day for Spike. Giles decided to let Spike get all the rest he could.

"Lord knows, he is going to need it."


	15. Chapter 15

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 15

Twenty minutes later, the front door slowly opened a few inches as a feminine hand with pearly pink fingernails and sporting a bright red ring appeared and wrapped itself around the edge of the door. Buffy, with her bottom lip nervously tucked in her teeth, gingerly poked her head inside to see what was happening in the apartment. The influence of the ring had not abated overnight and she was still infatuated with Spike to an outrageously irrational level. Last night, she really had not wanted to leave, but it was only Spike's insistence and Willow's gentle but direct persuasion that got her out the door. She had not slept well and had spent a restless night, tossing and turning, her thoughts centered on her Spike. 'HER Spike', that's what she called him in her mind. Dutifully, and with no small quantity of resentment, she had gone to her first two classes that morning. Finally, when she could no longer handle being apart from Spike, she managed to talk another classmate to take notes for her at Dr. Walsh's afternoon class. Once that arrangement had been made, she made her way directly from the campus to Giles' apartment.

As she slipped in and silently closed the door behind her, she noticed that Giles was busy fixing breakfast in the kitchen with his back to the door. It was still a couple of hours until everyone was supposed to meet at Giles, so Buffy was hoping to spend them with Spike. She spied the platinum locks of her vampire love resting on the back of the sofa. As she drew closer, she pulled up her hand to gently caress the messy locks. Just as she was about to entwine her hand in his hair, she became aware that he was sleeping. "Poor thing! This whole thing with the creature had really been wearing on him." she thought, tilting her head as she looked down adoringly at his sleeping visage. She moved in a smooth silent stealth as she rounded the corner of the couch. A small smile came across her face as she looked at the unconscious vampire sprawled back against the sofa. Moving over to him, she gently sat down next to Spike. She leaned over and placed her head on his shoulder and curled herself up against him. In response and without waking, Spike lazily moved his arm down from the back of the couch to encircle Buffy's shoulders to her great delight. Spike rolled his head from the back of the sofa until his cheek was resting on the top of Buffy's head. Buffy thought she could happily stay there forever as she wrapped her right arm around Spike's waist.

About three minutes later, Giles happen to pass by the back of the couch and noticed the couple curled up on the sofa together. Giles opened his mouth but a glowing Buffy caught his eye and held a finger up to her mouth in a conspiratorially fashion. She then turned back to rewrap her arm around the sleeping vampire's waist and snuggled comfortably against him. Knowing the inevitable consequence of the scene before him, Giles thought it better just to leave it alone as he began to walk back to the stairs, shaking his head. The screaming would start again soon enough, and he really needed another cup of tea before that happened.

…..

A few hours later, Xander, Anya and Willow were standing at the back of the couch in stupefaction, peering down at the bizarre slumbering couple cuddled up there. The over tired Slayer and vampire continued to sleep contentedly despite the activity in the room. Buffy had fallen asleep in Spike's arms with a smile on her face. While Spike, who had never woken up, slept on unaware that he had the slayer wrapped in his arms. Giles, in an air of denial regarding the sofa, was busy back at the table sorting through the books, the trio had brought with them concerning the Crusades. Willow looked over at Xander and Anya, not knowing what to do next, hoping one of them would take action. Unfortunately, neither Xander nor Anya returned her gaze; they were too mesmerized by the unnatural display before them. No one really wanted to wake the couple because in some strange way that meant acknowledging what they were seeing was actually real. The clock on the mantle of the fireplace ticked slowly as the group waited to see if someone would garner enough courage to take action. Finally, Xander took a deep breath and looking over at the girls for support, gave Spike a few quick shoves on the shoulder.

Spike slowly began to wake up with the motion against the back of his shoulder; he opened one eye, blinked and then opened both. He became aware that his cheek was resting on top of a head. A small smile pulled at his mouth as he enjoyed the sensation as he closed his eyes again for a moment. After a few seconds, he rockily pulled his head back to look at the head resting on his chest. Still too sleepy to recognize who the head's owner, Spike turned his head to notice the Scoobies standing there behind the sofa. He groggily turned back again to study the long blond hair covering the head lying against him. Not feeling the pressure of Spike's head on top of hers and the motion on the sofa, Buffy woke and slowly turned her face up toward the vampire.

In the next instant, Spike recoiled back against the back of the sofa in horror as he saw Buffy's overly smitten face turned up at him. His whole body scrambled in the effort to disengage himself from her arms and to get off the sofa as quickly as possible. "Yaaahh!" he yelled as he finally got to his feet, staggering back as he breathlessly turned around to look at Buffy on the sofa with the Scoobies standing behind her.

Buffy turned her head to see the Scoobies standing there and she smiled, shrugging her shoulders at them. She thought it was adorable that 'Her Spike' was so shy about public affection. It had been so wonderful spending the last few hours asleep in his arms. She could have spent days in his arms. Too bad, everyone had shown up and her short-lived ecstasy had come to an end. It was amazing the way "Her Spike' made her feel, it was like he was her food and she was starving. Once she and Spike were married, she thought, there would be no way she would let him go until she had gotten her fill. Hopefully, that would be soon, she prayed. She didn't know how long she could control herself around him. She was beginning to lose the fight a little more every time she saw him. She turned back to Spike, giving him an infatuated smile while blinking her green eyes at him.

Spike, on the other hand, was totally discombobulated as he busily straightening his clothes and trying to look anywhere but at the Slayer. Frowning, he ran his hands over himself to check to see if there had not been a violation of his person while he was sleeping. He hastily gave a suspicious look over at Buffy for a moment and decided that nothing untoward had happened between them much to his relief. In the next instant, Spike was frantically searching his mind, trying to figure out just how he got into such a freakish predicament on the couch. The last thing he could recount was that he was sitting on the couch, remembering the visit to his grandfather's estate as a child. Smoothing back his hair with both hands, he tried to think how exactly had he and Buffy had gotten wrapped up together on the sofa?- Well, some things were too disturbing to think about….at least until after the first cup of blood.

"Alright, now that everyone is awake. Let's begin the research." Giles called from the table. " Willow, please see what you can find out about Spike's maternal line on the computer. Everyone else, grab a book."

No one was more motivated to break Buffy's curse than the vampire as he loped over to the table from the living room. Spike immediately sat down at the table and started dragging books toward him. As he was opening a gigantic tome in front of him, Buffy quickly pulled up a chair beside him and allowed as little airspace as possible between them. A brief wrestling match broke out as Spike tried to disengage Buffy's persistent hands from his person which escalated until Spike made a noise of pain and grabbed his head. A contrite looking Buffy looked at her vampire with concern as she gently put her hand on his shoulder in comfort. She nodded at the terse warning from Spike about respecting his person. Watching his face and looking into his bright blue eyes, she found him utterly endearing when he lectured her. Despite her best effort, Buffy's hands could not stay away from her vampire as they crept back around the vampire. Spike finally resolved himself to the idea that he would have the Slayer attached to some part of him while he was trying to read the book in front of him. She placed chin on his shoulder with her arms around his waist as Spike tried to focus on the text in front of him. Buffy was thoroughly entertained by what she considered Spike's apparent shyness about public affection. She smiled at the Scoobies that sat around the table who were busy trying to conduct research and keep their eyes averted from the strange couple.

After an interminable time, Spike made a break from the table to go to the kitchen for some blood. It also served purpose to find some relief from the constant pawing by Buffy which seemed to have no end. Mirroring the vampire's movements, Buffy got up from her chair to follow him. Spike stopped her with an upraised hand at the entrance of the kitchen and told her to wait there. Buffy countered Spike's movement into the kitchen from across the breakfast bar. Willow looked up as Buffy moved toward her and then went back to busily typing away at her laptop regarding anything about the family name of Brask. As Spike opened the refrigerator and pulled out a packet of blood, Buffy took a seat on one of the barstools to watch him. Buffy sat happily at the bar watching Spike fix himself a blood of mug in the kitchen. She placed her chin on hands as she leaned forward and devoured Spike with her eyes like he was a plate of Krispy Kremes at a Weight Watchers meeting. Once his mug of blood was ready, he remained in the kitchen to drink it, looking anywhere but at Buffy. Spike was doing his best not to acknowledge the Slayer's gaze. Every time, his eyes came close to the slayer, she would scrunch up her nose at him. With a sigh, Spike looked away while he took another sip of blood and rested his hand on the counter. Instantly, Buffy smoothly slid her hand across the counter to tickle the knuckles on the back of Spike's hand. At the merest touch of her hand, Spike made a sound of surprise and pulled back his hand as if he had been burned.

"Buffy, I thought we talked about this." Spike warned, stepping warily back from the counter.

"Well, you know, a girl's gotta try" she said as she raised her eyebrows and gave him a playfully devilish leer.

Giving a little satisfied giggle, Buffy playfully twisted back and forth on the bar stool as she watched Spike react to her latest advance. Her mind soaking in all the aspects of the vampire in front of her. She smiled as she thought, "Lord, he is stinking cute, all prim and proper, but underneath there is all that vibrant sexuality just waiting to be tapped. And I am just the girl to take up that challenge!" That whole bad boy persona was just an act. She could see the real sweetheart behind the vampire; 'Her Spike' was so sweet, so gentle, so innocent, and so friggin hot! Biting her bottom lip, Buffy looked at the vampire's disgruntled face. She thought that he was so fun to tease and make that little wrinkle appear when he drew his eyebrows together. "Oh Big Bad, what I plan on teaching you about being bad." she promised him in her head.

Spike on the other hand, was not so enamored of the entire situation. He wanted to end the clownish charade of this engagement with Buffy as soon as possible. He was more than willing to assist in the research. If Buffy had not been continually pestering him, he might have been able to get some answers. Instead he had been relentlessly pursued by Buffy, who could not keep her hands off him. Sure, Willow's help had gotten him out of an uncomfortable scenario last night, and it still seemed to be keeping the Slayer at bay for the time being. But how exactly was he supposed to keep up this pretext of being purer than a groupie at a Jonas brother's concert? It was going against everything in his nature, but as he thought about it, his alternatives were even more gruesome. He already had to head off the Buffy's ongoing attempts to deflower him on a minute by minute basis. He had to say that Buffy was a girl who was not afraid to go after what she wanted.

Just then, Willow made a sound of discovery from the table.


	16. Chapter 16

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

Author's note: This revision is to fix the French language references in the story. Obviously, I did not take French in school. Google Translate don't fail me now!

…

Chapter 16 (revised)

"I couldn't find anything about the name of Brask beyond the fourteenth century. So I began to research other spellings based upon the phonetics. Accessing the French nobility rolls, I found a family of Norman knights with the extended name of Bras que Manie L'acier Sombre. Cross referencing the first part of that name against the Crusade histories, I came up with a name: Mortimer du Bras que. He was a knight that accompanied Richard the Lionhearted on the Third Crusade. Let's see, it says here that he was one of Richard's champions. He was known for being extremely reliable, faithful and trustworthy." Willow reported as she was staring at her laptop.

"He must have been a real ponce. That description sounds like it apply to a Golden Retriever." Spike said as he wandered back to the entrance of the kitchen. To Spike's chagrin, Buffy got up from the stool and was soon standing next to him, staring at him with a spellbound intensity.

"Oh, there's a problem. He died in Syria in 1190 before they could return to England." Willow said disappointedly. "I guess there was no way that he made it back to England."

"Hmmm. Wait a minute. You said the name was du Bras que?" Giles stated as he started to sort through the mess of books sitting on the table. He put his hands on a particular book and opened it, thumbing through the pages. "I think I found something in this book about the Crusades. Oh here it is.. It mentions du Bras que the younger. So, that means there was another du Bras que on the Third Crusade. Everyone, look up the Third Crusade!"

There was a sudden flurry of activity around the table as books were be flung right and left, and the air filled with the sounds of books being thrown open and pages being roughly turned. Spike walked over to the table with Buffy following not far behind. He paused for a moment and quickly grabbed a book. He walked around the table with a book in his hands, because he realized that if he kept moving he was less of a target for Buffy. It soon became apparent to everyone in the room that a strange pursuit was being conducted around the table. Buffy was followed Spike around the table several times who kept apace of the Slayer as he kept his head down looking at the book. She finally stopped and looked at Spike who stopped his movement around the table at the moment that she stopped. Buffy changed direction for a few steps and noticed that Spike countered her change in opposite direction. To Spike's ultimate relief, he saw Buffy pull out a chair and sit down, frowning as she rested her chin in her hand.

After a while, it appeared that as if the mad search through the books was going to yield nothing. The larger dusty more imposing looking books did not provide much information on the more remote characters of the Crusade. The Scoobies and Spike were getting frustrated at not being able to find out anything on the second du Bras que. Then, unexpectedly, Anya who was looking at a a small worn diary stood up, holding up the book in her hand and making a small sound of triumph.

"You guys are looking in the wrong books. Those old history books are only going to give you the official party line If you want to find out what was really going on, you have to know where to look."Anya stated to the room. "Here's just what we were looking for: du Bras que the younger was dismissed from the Richards' forces for an ill-advised action."

"Where did you find that?" Giles asked, looking up from his book.

"It's a diary of a twelfth century Abbess of a convent in the south of France. Think of diaries as the gossip rags for the Middle Ages." Anya rolled her eyes and continued. "At that time, it was common practice for the male nobility would dump their old wives in convents, so they could marry the next sweet young thing that came along. There wasn't much to do for these, - okay, okay, I'll say it, -'RIGHTFULLY RESENTFUL' ladies after Vespers but talk smack." Anya continued with her hands on her hips, smiling at the memory of old days. "Man, I really cleaned up back then on the whole vengeance demon bit. Yeah, good times! I actually thought about getting a couple of interns to help me out with the workload coming out of those convents. I remember this one time, this woman's gross old husband who was overly obsessed with his hunting dogs…Well, Let's just say after I was done, the words: "in season" would never have the same meaning again in that town.

Giles held up his hand to stop Anya from continuing on about her curses. "Anya, I hate to interrupt your reminiscing, but back to what you've found in the diary…"

"Oh Yeah, okay. It says here that it was right after the Christian forces and the Sultan Saladin had come to some sort of truce, there was an attack on a caravan that was transporting Sultan Saladin's sister by some renegade Christian knights. A lady from the court had been drug away by five of the knights for, you know, to her great peril and stuff. A lone English knight appeared and rode into the fray. The knight managed to rescue the lady without harm to her person from the ruffians, but only by receiving a grievous wound himself. He was personally nursed back to health by the lady he saved. Upon regaining his health, he was presented to the Sultan at Saladin's court, where the Sultan was grateful enough to bestow a boon on the English knight who wields the dark steel. It seems that King Richard was not too happy about the whole thing. Hmm, that's about all it says." She flipped the book over and back and looked up.

"That sounds pretty romantic if you ask me." Buffy lowly murmured as she had now managed to make it around the table unnoticed and was standing next to Spike when he stopped to listen to Anya. She wrapped her arms around his bicep and tilted her eyes toward Spike who had no reaction but sternly staring ahead and ignoring the Slayer.

"So? What has that got to do with Spike's grandpa?" Xander asked, looking puzzled at the ex-Demon.

"Don't you see? You really should have stayed awake in French class, Xander. Bras que manie l'acie sombre means arm that wields the dark steel." Anya said with her palm upraised.

"Anya, does it mention a first name?" Giles interjected.

"Let me see…" Turning her head back to the book, she skimmed her finger along the text until it came to a stop. "It mentions a Ralph."

"Willow, look up Ralph du Bras que on your laptop. Look for something dated around the end of the twelfth century." Giles instructed the young witch.

"Okay…Here's something on the family. The original du Bras que was one of the Norman barons that accompanied William the Conqueror over from Normandy." Willow reported as she stared at the computer screen. "According to the family tree, that was Ralph's great, great grandfather. Ralph was the younger brother of Mortimer, who was the second oldest son. So, he could definitely be our guy. The oldest was Thevenin who stayed in England during the Crusades. Ralph was the fifth son with two older brothers before him in succession, Maugerd and Odo.

"Sounds to me that old Ralph won the name lottery in that family, or perhaps there was a tradition of naming the kids after Hobbits back then. Eh, Spike?" Xander joked. Giving an exasperated sigh, Spike turned his eyes away from the buffoon sitting at the table with the books.

"Uh, Okay…" Willow looked quizzically at Xander and then turned back to the computer. "Ralph accompanied his older brother on the Third Crusade with King Richard. Being the youngest brother, he was in no position to inherit, so he was kinda wild. Heading out on Crusades was also in keeping with his hobbies, it seemed that he liked to fight, drink and act rather recklessly."

"Now, that sounds like family." Spike declared.

Anya jumped in. "Crusades were a great way to distinguish yourself and gain land, especially if you were out of the line of succession. If he was the fifth son, he was pretty much on his own to make his way in the world."

"Just a moment." Giles said as he dug around the pile of books on the table until he came across a diary of a clerk from Saladin's court. After a few minutes of looking through it, he came across something. "It seems like there was a bit of a scandal involving this knight that must obviously be Ralph and a lady from Saladin's court. He was sent back to England by King Richard when it was discovered that he had married the lady without consent of the either sovereign. To marry without consent of the King was bad enough and since this included two kings who were just at war, it would have been considered an act of treason. It was only by personal request from the Sultan that Ralph was spared from execution. It seems that Saladin also asked Richard to grant an estate to Ralph."

"Wow, he was willing to risk everything for his love. Just imagine the spice filled air of desert nights, a lone man in shiny armor riding into the rescue, swords waving around…. that could work on a girl." Anya said, resting her cheek on her hand. After a moment, Xander gave her nudge to jolt her out of her romantic reverie. Anya blinked as she looked around and gave an embarrassed smile.

"Obviously, it did. They had houseful of kids according to the genealogy website." Willow looked over from the laptop.

"Willow, you mentioned a boon. What was the boon that Saladin bestowed on the knight, err Ralph?" Giles said focusing on Willow as she was sitting in front of her computer.

"There's nothing definitive. I think Saladin grudgingly allowed the marriage." Willow reported. "It seems the lady who had been raised as a hostage in Saladin's court. She was the last of a great Constantinople house."

"In those chaotic times, I can see where her sudden marriage would create a bit of a political muck up." Giles replied.

"There's more here….It goes on to say something about a heart of a star was given to the knight. I don't know what that means." Willow cocked her head, while looking over at the group.

"A boon. A boon? Why does that seem so familiar?" Spike asked himself. Then it came back to him, the memory of being at his grandfather's beside, his grandfather whispering the secret in his ear. What he had not understood as a child became crystal clear to him as an adult. He looked at Buffy standing beside him and then at the ring on her finger that was constantly glowing a bright red. He slowly raised his head and swallowed hard, his eyes now betraying a burden that he accepted long ago.

"Oh, Cripes!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 17

"I need a drink! Watcher, you said you had some brandy. Where is it?"

Spike startled the room with his declaration. Buffy was puzzled by the sudden change in her love's demeanor and pulled back slightly. Spike took that opportunity to move quickly around her and look for the alcohol that he had seen once sitting on the breakfast bar. Buffy followed his motion about with a dazed expression at his outburst.

"Spike. What's going on?" Giles asked looking up shocked at the vampire's fit of agitation.

"Grrrmmm" Spike grumbled as he threw an arm down in dismissal at the watcher and continued in his quest for a drink. Buffy moved towards him, but she froze where she stood when she saw the look of warning in Spike's eyes. Finding no spirits, he turned abruptly back toward the watcher with a sound of disgust.

"Can't a vampire get a bleedin drink without receiving the third degree? Now, where is it?" Spike loudly announced. Ducking his head around to see if there was any liquor sequestered away anywhere near the bar, he let out a hiss of frustration as his search was coming up with nothing.

"I believe there's some brandy in the kitchen, leftover from Thanksgiving." Giles called over.

With that bit of information, Spike determinedly marched around a stunned Buffy and into the kitchen. Opening up the cupboards, he found the bottle of brandy left over from Thanksgiving and grabbed the bottle as if it was a lifesaver and he was drowning man. Spike quickly opened the bottle and smelled the brandy. As he relished the smell of the brandy, a huge smile broke over his face. He reached into the dish rack and grabbed a glass while the bottle was clumsily clutched in his other hand. With his hand covering the top of the glass, he poured a good amount of brandy through the open area between his index finger and his thumb. Barely moving his hand to bring the glass up to his face, he slung the brandy into the back of his mouth and swallowed. He immediately poured another inch of the brandy into the glass and repeated the same process. He, then paused for a moment, and leaned against the counter to stare over at Buffy where he stood. Spike's eyes went first to the ring on Buffy's hand and then up to her face and then back again. Shaking his head and backing away from the counter, he appeared to be muttering a denial to some internal accusation. Spike turned the bottle of brandy over one more time, filling his glass with the remainder and throwing the bottle into the sink. He continued to mutter to himself, as he paced back and forth in the kitchen as he gulped the last of the brandy.

".. doesn't count. No, no…can't be held to it…."

Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies were dumbstruck as they watched the little scene going on in the kitchen. Buffy looked over to Willow with a heart-stricken look. Spike was obviously very disturbed about something. Her heart ached as she saw him struggling with an internal dilemma but she didn't know what to do. Willow, who was still struggling with her own heartbreak regarding Oz's recent departure, recognized the pain in Buffy's eyes.

"Giles! What else do you have that is decent to drink around here?" Spike yelled as he was opening cabinets again. "You have got to have some gin or whisky around here somewhere. Hell! Where's the cooking sherry?"

"Spike, this isn't a bar. I didn't prepare to be able to provide cocktails tonight."

"Watcher, if I don't …." Spike took a breath and calmed himself. Then in a measured yet tense tone. "Giles, I would like to thank you for your hospitality, but being that I have gone through a rather tumultuous number of days recently, I don't think it is shocking that I want to get pissed!"

Xander began to stand up from the table and seeing that the vampire was nearing the end of his rope.

"Say, Giles don't you have that scotch in the green bottle over there on the bookcase?" Xander said as an off-hand remark.

"That's a boy!" Spike quickly stepped over to the cabinet at the other side of the living room. It was an almost full bottle of scotch that Spike held in his hand triumphantly. He looked at it as he carried it in front of him like an old friend who had come to visit as he walked back to the kitchen. Giles made a sound of discontent as he watched the vampire make off with his scotch.

"Great work on adding gas to the flame, Xander.. Just what we need a tipsy, emotionally distraught vampire around us." Giles said to Xander.

"Oh yeah, didn't think of it that way." Xander replied sheepishly and yelled. "Hey, Spike why don't you lay off the booze? It is not going to help the situation."

"Go to hell, Whelp." Spike replied angrily as he began to open the scotch.

"Buffy, you don't think Spike is developing a problem, do you?" Xander turned toward Buffy. "I think someone should address the problem before it gets out of hand.

"Are we going to have an intervention?" Anya leaned over and whispered to Giles

In the kitchen, Spike's vampire hearing picked up Anya's whisper. Spike's head snapped up and his eyes lit up with hope of possible escape from his current predicament.

"That's right! That's right!" Spike yelled triumphantly as he pointed at the others across the bar. Spike continued as he marched out of the kitchen into the living room "I love drinking! It's all I do every day when I am not out doing evil. Every afternoon, I drink so much that I am as marinated as a brisket for Passover by the time the sun sets!"

"Uh oh, I think he's going all inebriated Hollywood starlet on us." Willow gasped as her eyes darted toward Giles.

Spike marched up to an unearthly calm Buffy and stood in front of her with his chest out and swaggering a bit in front of her.

"No one is going to get me to stop drinking. I'll drink so much that you'll have to claim JD as dependent on your taxes. I am going to lose all sense of ambition, become fiscally irresponsible and develop a gut that would put Xander's in the minor leagues."

"Hey! I just don't happen to have any sharp edges!" Xander replied in defense, looking around the room at the other Scoobies.

"I like you cuddly, Xander honey. We don't need as many pillows, less laundry. Win-win." Anya said affectionately, as she nodded toward Xander.

"Well, what do you have to say about that, Slayer? You want to call the whole thing off? Just give me back that ring and we'll pretend the engagement never happened." Spike said with a huge amount of bravado.

Buffy stood there with an unreadable expression in her eyes. She had not spoken or reacted to Spike since he had come out of the kitchen. As Spike looked at her, her other worldly calm began to fill him with discomfort. He was counting on her reaction to be swift like a hawk descending on its' prey, but she was just standing there as if in a meditative state. He cleared his throat and looked a little uneasy from the direct serene gaze coming from her eyes. In desperation, Spike thought he might try to sell it a little harder and turned slightly away from Buffy. Looking down at the floor, he said. "It's for the best, you know. It would have never have worked. It will tear me up, but I'll get over it."

Spike felt a small hand on his shoulder and then felt another one on the side of his face away from the Slayer. Without saying a word, Buffy leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. Spike was surprised by the unexpected kind gesture and pulled his head back with a small look of astonishment. As much as he would like to deny it, Spike always responded to affection. This simple act coming from the Slayer who he had long ago written off as an enemy seemed to crumble the defenses that he had worked so hard at constructing as Spike. Buffy's kiss had gone beyond those defenses straight to William. William, the oversensitive mama's boy, in Spike's opinion, would have better have been a memory better left forgotten. Blinking his eyes several times, Spike straightened up, rallied his most defient forces and turned back to the Slayer. He, then, discovered the battle was already over and it was obvious who the victor was. As much as he told himself that he did, Spike couldn't bring himself to hurt Buffy. He knew that he had to get her to see reason.

"Buffy, you don't want to do this." Spike looked into Buffy's eyes.

"Don't start telling me what to do. I get enough of that from the other men in my life" Buffy softly smiled at him

"I'm evil, pet. Remember…vampire." Spike looked into her eyes with honesty.

"I remember. You don't think I see?"

"See what?"

"You"

Unable to let himself believe her, Spike tried to warn Buffy about the situation.

"Buffy, you're under a spell."

"I could have told you that the first time I saw you in the alley outside the Bronze." Buffy said with a small chuckle.

"You know this isn't right, luv." Spike whispered to her as if it was a great secret.

"What's so great about being right?" she asked as she tilted her head and leaned toward him.

Spike and Buffy moved a little closer to one another. Spike put up his hand to stroke her hair as suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat cut through the room. Spike staggered back a little, looking very discomfited as he glanced around at the Scoobies that were staring back at him. Sniffing a bit, Spike tilted his head in an air of denial and said "What?"

Giles moved slowly over toward Spike and Buffy scrutinizing the pair as he came closer. He stopped a few feet away. Xander and Anya moved together as one as stopped behind Giles. Willow was frozen at the table behind her laptop with her mouth open.

"Spike, did you happen to notice anything a few minutes ago?" Giles broke the silence.

"What do you mean, Watcher?" Spike asked as he thought about attempting to increase the distance between Buffy and him, but couldn't seem to get motivated to really try.

"I see. Did you feel or see anything out of the ordinary just then?" Giles continued his questioning

"Get to the point!" Spike snapped at the watcher.

"Spike, you weren't aware of it?" an astonished Xander jumped in.

"Aware of what?" Spike said rolling his eyes and running out of patience.

"You and Buffy…When you were talking together…there was a red light surrounding you. You didn't feel anything?"

"No, I felt…." Spike stopped and gave himself a little shake. "It doesn't matter what I felt. What were you expecting a burning sensation?"

Anya leaned over to Buffy.

"Buffy, how are you? Are you alright?" Anya asked.

"Wonderful." Buffy said looking at Spike. Spike looked over at Buffy when she said it. He blushed a little bit and then catching himself, he shook himself out of his reverie.

Spike turned toward Giles and urgently asked

"All of you actually saw the red light surround Buffy and me?"

All of the Scoobies nodded their heads and Spike groaned. He thought back over the few minutes of conversation he had had with Buffy. The connection he had felt with her had been amazing and glorious. Spike abruptly put those thoughts behind him. It wasn't real. It was just a stupid spell..just a stupid spell, he told himself over and over.

"Do you think this spell is spreading over to me?" Spike asked suddenly.

Spike's eyes bounced around the room and looked at the Scoobies. None of them were looking at him. Finally, Willow looked up from her laptop and nodded slowly.

Pressing his lips together in a fine line, Spike set his shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Well, there's one thing that can be done about it." he announced. "I'm leaving!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (Heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 18

Spike started directly for the door after he made his statement before anyone could react, but he was only able to get a few steps before Giles stepped in front of him.

"No, Spike. I can't let you leave. We don't know the extent of the power of this spell." Giles said as he abruptly moved to block the path of the vampire. "You may be necessary factor in defeating this creature."

Spike made a quick turn to go around the Watcher, but Giles signaled to Xander. Xander, seeing his cue, also moved forward to block the vampire's escape.

"Where do you think you're goin, you Day-glo Don Juan?" Xander challenged the oncoming vampire, as he took a position to block Spike's progress.

Seeing two of his avenues of escape were blocked, Spike narrowed his eyes at the humans and growled as he backed away. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Spike swiveled his head swiveling to track the movements of Xander and Giles as they countered his movements.

"Spike, you know you just can't leave. Your participation is vital to defeat this creature." Giles tried to explain to the distressed vampire.

As Giles tried to verbally restrain Spike from bolting, he moved slowly toward the vampire. He stepped around Buffy who was watching the antics of the men with a baffled expression. Huffing and shaking her head, Buffy took a few steps back. Buffy calmly made her way over to the kitchen hallway where Willow who had left the table was now standing, watching the scene evolve between the men.

"Watch me." Spike said as he suddenly vaulted around the other side of the dining table. Xander pursued the vampire on the opposite side of the table. He was a moment behind Spike as the vampire paused to pull the door open. In that instant, Xander was able to grab the collar of Spike's shirt. Spike was so intent on leaving that that he didn't feel the hand as he jumped back to pull open the door. Spike's momentum pulled the collar from Xander's hand, but it also caught a nail on Xander's hand. Xander made a quick inhale with the pain. In the same moment, Spike grabbed his head and arched back as he staggered back into the entry of the apartment. Spike looked over at Xander, who had closed the door and was now standing between the vampire and the door with a slow satisfied smile spreading across his face. Spike bent over and gritting his teeth against the pain in his head, moved toward the door again with dogged determination.

"I told you! I have to leave!" Spike heatedly declared to the room. Willow and Buffy looked at each other with small pained expressions.

Giles motioned to Xander to distract Spike as he slowly came up behind the vampire.

"Really, Spike? You don't think you're going to be allowed to leave?" Xander said in a condescending tone.

"Shut up, Donut boy!"

Just then, Giles reached over to grab Spike from the back, but only succeeded in knocking the vampire to the floor. Giles made an 'oomph' sound as he body collided with Spike's. Spike tightened his hand in the curls as a sound of fresh pain came out of his mouth as he was splayed across the floor. He pulled himself up to his hands and knees, but by that time Giles and Xander had a hold of each of his arms and pulled him to a standing position.

"Listen, you peroxide wonder, you're not going anywhere until we are done with you." Xander said with a threat underlying his voice. "You're all tied up in this somehow."

"Ahem, guys! I hate to break it to you, but you do realize that it is not even close to 5 o'clock in the afternoon? The sun is still up and Spike isn't going anywhere." Willow addressed the men in the room. Buffy was standing beside her wearing an expression that appeared that she was doubting the intelligence level of the men in the room. The women approached the group of men.

"Xander! Was that really necessary?" Anya asked, as she came up beside to him. Then in a lower voice, she added. "Although, it was kinda hot in a Viking sort of way."

"Spike, are you okay?" Buffy asked as she pushed Giles and Xander away from her vampire.

Buffy walked over to vampire who was standing there with a dejected air. She placed her hand alongside his head to smooth his hair and then moved it down over his heart. Spike looked up and into Buffy's eyes. As the ring covered his heart, it suddenly came to life again. The stone glowed a bright crimson, as a vibrant energy seemed to emanate from the stone. This time, the energy seemed to be directed only at Spike. It covered the vampire and then suddenly it went in to him just over his heart. Spike staggered back, as Buffy moved to support him, wrapping her other arm around his waist but still keeping her hand with the ring over his heart. Spike looked down at his chest where the energy had been just a moment before. He looked up at Buffy, he face filled with confusion at feeling nothing. In the next moment, Spike struggled for breath, as he arched his back in a spastic motion. He appeared to be in some sort of seizure as his body seemed to be reacting to the power. Spike's head fell backward as he fought against the force coursing through his body. Then it all stopped. Spike raised his head and looked around the room and then he acted as if he saw something he recognized, bringing his eyebrows together in a look of puzzlement. In the next moment, he collapsed on the floor unconscious.

…..

Spike found himself lying on a stone floor of what looked to be a gigantic stoa. There were large sections of silk hanging between the columns that gently moved without any discernible breeze. Spike slowly lifted his head and looked around with his eyes, trying to determine where he was and how exactly he got to be here. Magic! He grumbled in his head. He got to his feet, while his eyes traveled around the structure. He could not really see that far due to the hangings blocking his view. Spike became very still, listening for anything that might provide him a direction to go. From where he stood, all directions looked the same. Then he heard something, very faintly off in the distance. It began to louder and closer…It was footsteps, as if someone was casually walking towards him. There must be something off in his hearing, he couldn't tell what direction the footsteps were coming from. He became very anxious; he spun around looking for any sign of whatever was coming towards him. He would have vamped out, but he didn't seem to be able to bring forward the demon. It seemed whatever was going to happen, he was not going to have to handle it without the use his vampire skills. He was not about to let whatever was coming know that he was intimidated. He puffed up his chest and lifted his chin, perfecting his expression in a scowl of contempt. He did not notice the still figure standing behind him watching him with an air of calm disinterest.

"Really, William. I would assume you would have been brought up better than that." the individual in Victorian garb addressed him.

Spike spun around and looked at the individual who standing there. It was a woman in high necked Victorian dress, her hands clasped in front of her as she returned in stare with an enigmatic gaze. Spike took a step back as he regarded the woman. She seemed familiar, her hair, her nose, the way she held herself were so familiar. It reminded him of his….No, this wasn't her, but someone like her. He remembered his visit to his grandfather's estate that one dreadful night.

"Aun…Aunt Charlotte?"

"Yes, William. I've been expecting you."


	19. Chapter 19

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (Heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 19

"What the bleedin hell are you talkin about?" Spike asked as he angrily pulled his head back dumbfounded. "Where the bleedin hell am I? And what are you doin here?"

Still disoriented, Spike quickly looked around at the columns and silk panels. Then there was something that caught his attention, a soft small sound. There was a fast rhythmic pattern of bare feet running across the stone floor off in the distance. Then, it abruptly stopped and there was only silence. Spike turned his attention back to his Aunt Charlotte.

"Magic!" He spit the word out of his mouth, curling his lips back as he regarded his surroundings.

Aunt Charlotte tilted her head, regarding the platinum haired man in front of her with a disappointed look. Her eyes traveled from the top of his head all the way down to his boots.

"You are so like your father. He held such disdain for magic as well." She gave a resigned sigh. "William, please pay attention. There is much to do and we are running out of time. Please attend me."

"Bollocks! I am not going anywhere! Who are you really? What do you want with me?" Spike growled as he started to move toward the woman. "Let me outta of this place."

"William! Language!" Aunt Charlotte said as she held up her hand which seemed to stop Spike's advancement toward here. "I take it things are very different now in the world considering your strange appearance. There is no reason that you should forget yourself and your upbringing. I am sure my sister would be vastly disappointed in your conduct."

Spike upon hearing the reference to his mother by a woman who was so closely tied to her, suddenly felt shame creeping up his spine. The old training and social traditions that had been drilled into him as a child, were coming to fore in his mind. Before he knew it, the habits of the human William took precedence over his Spike persona and responded to his Aunt

"I apologize, Aunt Charlotte. I am a bit taken aback at the certain events that have happened to me recently. I am a bit out of sorts presently." Spike said in clipped upper-class British tones from his Victorian lifetime. "I would appreciate any assistance on leaving this place."

Upon hearing those words leave his mouth, Spike began to doubt his own sanity. Where the hell was that poofy speech coming from? He thought he had eliminated all bits of that loser, William from himself. Suddenly, there it was again! Spike again heard the small padded footsteps again, but couldn't discern the direction they came from. He looked at Aunt Charlotte who sighed and blinked at him knowingly about his confusion. Spike could have sworn he heard a child's voice make an 'aah' sound. Aunt Charlotte didn't react, so Spike wondered if he was just imagining the sound.

"Of course, I will assist you, William." Aunt Charlotte responded. "I always have."

"What do you mean?" Spike looked puzzled as he asked that question. All he could remember of this woman was an introduction upon arrival at his grandfather's estate as a small child.

Just then, Aunt Charlotte held her hand out to her side toward the silk panel beside her. A small child's hand on the other side of the panel grasped it. She brought her hand closer and in front of her body, bringing the child into view. There was a small curly haired boy in a nightshirt looking at Spike with a serious expectant expression in his eyes. Spike's eyes widened, as he recognized the child, it was him from that night at his Grandfather's estate.

"How? That's not possible! That's not me." Spike declared as he backed away from the pair a few steps and then looked wildly around. "What is this, some kind of sideshow trick?"

"I assure you, William, it is very real." Aunt Charlotte answered with deliberate slowness. "It is you."

"How can that be? Are you saying…" Spike stopped himself and pulled his head back as looked suspiciously at the pair. Then he said with a sardonic smile and waving a finger "No, no, you almost got me there. Righto. Whoever you are, you were doing a real cracking job up to then. You had me so totally gob smacked, that I actually apologized… but you pushed it too far. You had to trot out the little milksop and even I know that's just not bleedin possible."

"William, I will not allow such uncouth deportment in my presence." Aunt Charlotte said angrily, dropping the child's hand and moving forward. "You should know better not to call people names."

"Oh, Sod off! You're only manufactured puffs of overblown gas." Spike sneered at the woman

"William!"

Spike realized that Aunt Charlotte was not speaking to him as he heard two small bare feet run toward him. He smiled confidently at the little figure that was charging him with such malicious intent in his eyes. As the two chubby hands reached forward and touched his body, Spike felt himself unexpectedly thrown back about twenty feet.

Spike pulled himself up from where he was sprawled on the cold stone floor, looking back at the child who was staring at him with murderous rage. Spike shook his head to clear it and put a hand to his head. That sure felt real as he struggled to stand, he thought. How was that possible? If they were phantoms, how were they able to touch him? I must be having some kind of breakdown. Or maybe, I have gotten some bad blood or a blow on the head… Spike stopped and gazed at the pair as the realization hit him. "IT'S THAT RING! IT'S THAT RING. IT'S THAT BLOODY STUPID RING! I SHOULD HAVE THROWN IT AWAY OR PAWNED IT YEARS AGO! WHY DID I KEEP IT? IT HAS MUCKED UP EVERYTHING ROYALLY!

While Spike was experiencing his revelation in his head, Aunt Charlotte had crossed over to the small child, William. The little boy, who had been experiencing a supreme sense of satisfaction at tossing his insufferable older self across the room, was now looking up at his displeased Aunt with contrite expression.

"William! We do not revert to physical violence to resolve issues unless it is absolutely necessary." The woman looked down with a disapproving stare as she lectured the little boy.

"I DON'T LIKE HIM! HE'S MEAN AND HIS HAIR IS FUNNY. IT LOOKS LIKE MELTED WAX!" The smaller version of William declared vehemently.

"Hey, lay off the hair!" The slightly stung adult version Spike called over.

"William, I expect you to apologize. That was very coarse conduct on your part." Aunt Charlotte demanded of the child.

Spike groaned as that particular phrase was used so constantly in his childhood, that it still raised the hairs on the back of his neck. With a mighty groan, the child, William marched over to Spike with a resigned air and a touch of barely contained resentment. He stopped in front of Spike

"I apologize for my ungentlemanly behavior before. I do hope that this will not be an impediment to us developing a beneficial relationship." William recited looking down. If he had looked up, he would have seen Spike mouthing the words long with the little boy. It was an old phrase that had haunted his human lifetime.

"Ta. Think nothin of it, mate. I respect a man who defends those he cares about." Spike shrugged his shoulders, sympathizing with the child's predicament

Hearing that his apology was accepted, William looked up at Spike, a slow grin spread over the child's face, a grin that Spike found himself returning. Somehow, despite the situation, he liked the kid.

"Now, that that has been resolved. Shall we continue?" Aunt Charlotte asked.

"Alright. I believe that you exist, but what is going on here? This little tosser can't be me." Spike said as he looked up from the child over to the woman. "There's gotta be some kind of magic at work."

"Oh, of course, there is. You two haven't been together in a long time, in a decidely very long time, but at one time you were one." Aunt Charlotte looked at the two people in front of her. She then looked directly at Spike and asked. "Do you remember your visit to your Grandfather's estate?"

"Yes, I do." Spike answered, slightly puzzled.

"Do you remember what happened that night?" Aunt Charlotte furthered her interrogation.

"Mother brought me from London and I got the ring from Grandfather." Spike said, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head in bewilderment.

"Anything else?" Aunt Charlotte said, expectantly.

"No. What else was there to remember?" Spike responded and then added. "You can stop with the twenty questions any time now. What happened? "

"Something very terrible and important to your life." Aunt Charlotte said grimly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I got the ring and went home." Spike said. "If there was anything else, surely I would have remembered."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Aunt Charlotte said as she came close. "William, what about your father? Did you ever see your father again after that?"

"No, he was killed in a coach accident on his way back from Bristol." Spike again looked confounded.

"That's what they told you?" the woman said with some compassion.

"It's what my mother told me." Spike justified his response.

"I see." Aunt Charlotte sighed and looked directly into Spike's eyes. "William, you need to remember all that happened that night. I warn you, it will be incredibly difficult for you."

"Just how are you supposed to make me remember?" Spike responded, somewhat warily.

"You must join back with your other part of yourself. As the result of that night, you were torn in two." Aunt Charlotte indicated with her head as she continued. "One part of you continued with your mother and one part has been here with me in this dimension. I believe that the part of you in this dimension is holding those memories for you."

"So, he is going to tell me what happened then?" Spike looked at the child whose eyes seemed to hold much more wisdom than a child should possess.

"No. William." Aunt Charlotte said calmly. "When you two join back together, you're going to live them again."

With that statement, Aunt Charlotte made a motion with her hand. Spike felt himself become very relaxed and a fuzzy feeling came over his body. Time seemed to slow down. "Wait." Spike said, attempting to wrest some control back of the situation. But it was too late; Spike looked down at the child who had not moved the entire time. The child looked back at his face, the blue eyes blazing. As their eyes locked, Spike had a sensation of recognition and stranger yet, belonging. It was like seeing someone very important to you, like an old lost friend again, and having everything fall back into place as if no time had passed. On some intrinsic level, Spike could feel some part of himself reaching toward the child. A strange light filled his eyes, blinding him to the stoa with the silk panels, his Aunt and the child before him.

When he came back to himself, he found himself standing in his nightshirt at his grandfather's bedside again, his grandfather's finger on his lips to stay silent. He was five years old again and it was that night when he was given the ring.

….

Author's note: How do you like it so far? Sorry, the chapters are so short, but I want to get them out or I would never update. Please review- It motivates me to get the next chapter going!


	20. Chapter 20

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (Heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

Author's note: I have been asked to write longer chapters- Well, here you have it. Be careful what you ask for. Maybe I am too over involved with cliffhangers- but I love em! Too much?

….

Chapter 20

Spike stood there next to his grandfather, feeling the ring's energy coursing through his small body from the ring clenched in his hand. As he took his bearings, Spike realized that part of him was still the child in the room from that night and there was another part, an adult part that was viewing everything from the child's eyes. Spike became aware that he was only a passenger in this body, the other part of himself, the child, William was in control. Looking at the older man who was leaning toward him with an adult perspective, he didn't remember the older man looking so haggard and tired. His eyes wandered around the room until they settled on the one person he wanted to see. She was standing there a few feet away watching him closely.

"Mummy." The word softly rolled around Spike's mind as he looked at the young woman standing there watching him.

The corners of her mouth curved in a tense reassuring smile as she tried to hide her worry from her child. Spike had forgotten she had ever looked like this. She looked so young, so vibrant and beautiful, he thought. Even now looking at her with adult eyes, her presence astounded him. There was some sadness in her eyes perhaps because of the children she had lost; but there was strength and resolve there as well. He could not see how this dazzling young woman ever became the clinging fragile yet still lovely woman he called Mother. He noticed her long sandy blonde hair hanging down around her like a cascade. For all the years that it was just the two of them together, she had had white hair. He saw that his hair's own natural coloring under the bleach job was like hers. There just a few feet behind her was Aunt Charlotte, who was also watching the proceedings at the bed in the room with keen interest. All at once there was the sounds of a sudden commotion coming from the other side of the double doors, as a man's shouts were echoing down the halls. The doors burst open and a disheveled and distraught James stormed into the room.

"Papa!" William said happily, seeing the man stop in the middle of the room.

…

When James had arrived home that evening, he found the note that Anne had received that afternoon. Cursing, he called one of the staff to prepare the prize Arabian to ride to his father-in-law's estate to retrieve his family. He should have never have let that man in their lives again. He had only allowed him to attend little Lucinda's funeral in an effort to comfort his wife. He now realized his mistake; he had let the serpent back into the garden. The old man's pride had cost him his own son and now, he wanted HIS son. It was going to be a long, hellish ride, but he was going to get his family away from that despot's control, even if it took every bit of his soul.

As the horse maneuvered the transition from the cobblestone streets of London onto the rough dirt roads of the countryside, James thought about his wife, Anne. Whatever could have possessed her to return to that place, and furthermore, endanger their child at the same time. James remembered when he first met Anne on the outskirts of the Brask estate. He had been on his fourth assignment from the British Ordnance Survey. He was just recording the results from his survey equipment to mark the boundaries of a proposed road when an irate young woman marched up to him from a copse of trees. She had a long dried reed in her hand, that she whipped back and forth as she came toward him. She demanded that he leave her family's property, breaking the reed against her hip with the emotion in her words. Remembering the time, he thought he had never seen someone act so outrageously and be so beautiful at the same time. He remembered that he covered his attraction with an air of distain. He told the vision that he was employed with the British government and was there on official business. With a sound of anger, she spun around on her heel and went back to where she came from. Following her with his eyes, he didn't expect to ever see her again.

After that, there were a number of uncomfortable social encounters between the two of them as he finished his assignment in the surrounding countryside. It became widely known gossip in the township that the two intensely detested each other. It wasn't until there was fire in the stables at the Brask estate when he had been passing by, that their relationship developed in a different direction. It had just been he and Anne that had pulled out the horses from the burning building just before the roof fell in. They had both collapsed on the ground away from the burning building. Exhausted, covered in soot and slightly coughing from the smoke. Lying on their backs next to one another, they looked over at the burning stables and began to laugh. The belly laughs issuing from the couple lasted a good few minutes when she abruptly rolled toward him as she laughed. To his complete surprise, he stopped laughing and felt her take his face in her hands. Anne's face hovered over his, looking into his eyes, she leaned down and kissed him. He found himself returning the kiss passionately, wrapping his arms around her and rolling over with her. Consequently, their relationship became very intense love affair and they did not want to be parted from each other when it was time for him to return to London.

Anne's father did not approve of James. James was a modern young man of the industrial age, who valued practicality, science and the latest contemporary theories. There was no room in the young man for what was considered mystic or magical. James valued the practicality which he had inherited from his Scottish grandmother, along with curly hair and grey green eyes. They were the only heritage that James could claim from the woman who had raised him. She had no patience for frivolity and fear that she believed were the basis of belief in magic in her opinion. James had taken her lessons to heart and clung them with an impressive ferocity. It was this incompatible trait that caused Anne's father to reject the young man's request and break his wild daughter's heart.

Weyland Brask was intensely proud of his family's ancient heritage and the mystical pact that came with it. The people of the nearby township were intimidated by the old dragon of a man that was seldom seen outside of his estate since the death of his wife, or perhaps, it was the power that seemed to emanate from him. His family kept mostly to themselves on their large estate, although the younger members did make appearances at local social functions. There were a few in the community grumbled, that the family having such a large house should use it for large soirees. However there were more that felt an uneasy dread of the imposing Brask estate, so it was better that there was no need to go there. Of course, an ancient oppressive looking structure always accumulated stories. As this was the case with the Brask house, there were whispers that the family was involved with magic. James discounted this as idle gossip from easily frightened, uneducated people. James was not intimidated by the fearsome house or the old tyrant who dominated the household.

When James approached him for permission to marry Anne, Weyland immediately dismissed the request and had him swiftly thrown off the estate. James had told a tearful Anne that he did not want to come between her and her family, so he was going to return to London that night. She surprised him when he opened his door of his room at the inn to find her standing there in a cloak with a packed satchel. Despite trying to persuade her otherwise, Anne was determined to go with him, damn what her family felt. The two travelled through the night to Gretna Green where they married shortly upon arrival. They made their home in a simple house in London, where Anne had little communication with her family. One night, she had told James of her family's mystical legacy, not that he believed her. He honestly thought it was nothing more than smoke and mirrors that Weyland used to control his family. Now that her family had reached out a tentacle to pull Anne back in the fold, along with their son, James was not going to allow that to happen, no matter the cost.

The burning fury built inside James as he rode through the night. When he arrived at the estate, he shouted and banged on the front door until a harried looking servant in night clothes holding a single candle answered the door. James pushed past the surprised servant as he marched into the darkened cavernous entry hall. He shouted his wife's name which echoed madly around the hall, but brought no response. A number of servants approached him tentatively, seeing this wild man appear in the house, but recognizing him as one of the family, they were not sure what to do. As they bumbled around in their bedclothes in front of him, James demanded to know where the master of the house was. One of the servants asked him to wait and he would announce him as the man looked nervously over his shoulder up the stairs. With a sound of disgust, James quickly moved past the man and bounded up the stairs, three at a time. When he arrived at the landing, he became aware that the servants were following him, calling after him and trying to delay him. With a snort, he looked up and down the hall trying to decide which way to go. He called Anne's name again and waited for a response, when there was no answer, he studied the hallway. He could just detect light coming from underneath a set of double doors at one end of the hallway. As he advanced toward those doors, several of the servants caught up with him and ran ahead to block his path. He shouted at them to move out of his way and pushed them aside in his fury. He came up to the doors and grabbed the handle. It was locked. His wrath was so great at this point that he did not even think of knocking, James stepped back and kicked the doors open. The doors flew open, sending tiny shards of wood skittering across the floor. Inside, James could see Weyland, Anne, her sister Charlotte and William looking at him, only William seemed glad to see him.

As William was happily looking at his father, Spike regarded the man he had not seen since this night. His mother had always told him that he favored his father. That was no understatement. The man who strode into the room was a brunette version of Spike…or rather, Spike was a lighter version of this man. Spike chuckled to himself that if this was present day with its' trashy daytime talk shows, there would be no doubt who was the baby daddy. It was strange to feel such a connection to someone who only walked into the room.

James glared over at Anne, staring at her with anger and betrayal. He then focused on the little boy standing next to the bed who seemed so glad to see him. He advanced forcefully toward him. As he drew nearer, James noticed there was something different about William. When he arrived next to the child, he cupped the child's face in both hands as he looked down at him. William had always favored his father, he was the only one of the children born to he and his wife who had his curly hair and grey green eyes. The eyes that were now looking back at him were bright blue, like his grandfather who was lying on the bed.

"What is this? What did you do? How can…?" Pulling back in shock, James angrily demanded of the room.

James moved his hands down from William's face and began to pull the child away from the bed. Weyland tiredly tried to restrain James by lifting an arm to the man.

"You must stop. It is not finished…" Weyland gasped. James pulled back hand to swat at the arm that was trying to delay him from removing his son from this situation. He stopped himself just in time, but was still seething with barely contained white hot rage.

"Who are you to tell me what do? What..What have you done to him! You and your damnable insidious scheme to control us! If you have hurt William, I swear I will make you all pay!" James yelled as he swooped down and scooped the child into his arms.

It was a tight protective hug that William did not fight as he lay quietly in his father's arms. Although it was common for William to feel that people cared about him, it had been well over a hundred years since Spike had felt truly cared about, especially by the father he had missed for so long in his life. Spike wondered at the feeling of being valued and protected that flooded his being. Oh, Lord help me. I believe I am getting misty over this, he thought.

James turned and headed toward the doors to leave with the child clasped in his arms. As he crossed the room, Anne moved toward him, holding up her hand to stop him

"James…You don't understand.. " Anne said painfully. She placed her hand on William's curls.

"I understand. I understand too well. Your loyalty to your old family and its bizarre heritage far outweighs your loyalty to us. Now, move. I am taking William away from this place. He needs to see a doctor." James snorted and pulled his lips back in disdain. He tightened his hold on his child who felt so small in his arms, which enflamed his rage even further.

"James, please. You and William are my life. I would never endanger either one of you. Believe me when I tell you, I would lay down my life willingly for both of you, but this… This goes beyond just our family. It is for every living thing in this world." Anne said looking into her troubled husband's eyes. "When we first had children, I had hoped that this duty would have pass over them. Now there is only William. I had so hoped that he would have a happy life outside of all this; unfortunately, that did not happen. Although he is just a little boy, it is his turn to undertake the burden of his blood. If I never ask anything of you, please do this. Please trust me."

James stared at Anne's face, his mind handling a thousand thoughts at once. His mind and his heart were at war over what to do next.

"Papa, I want down." William uttered into his father's ear. James patted the child's back as he considered bolting out the door or trusting the woman he loved. The two people stared into each other's eyes over their child's head. Eventually, James' heart won out and he placed the child on his feet.

"Alright, Anne. I trust you." James said softly.

Anne's eyes filled with love for the man standing in front of her. She placed her hand alongside his face and rubbed her thumb over his cheek. She turned to her son, knelt down and whispered to him.

"Go back to Grandfather." She urged the child back to his place by his grandfather.

William had only taken a few steps toward the bed when an unearthly presence filled the room. A black swirling portal opened up in the room. The sound of an other-worldly voice chanting filled the room. All the lights were vanquished in a second. William make a squeak as he was plunged into darkness which stopped his progress toward his grandfather. There illuminated against the blackness, stood a creature, flashing brightly against the darkness.

Williams stood there, fixed as he looked at the incredibly anomalous creature appearing at one end of the room. The creature suddenly fixed his attention on the old man lying on the bed. Weyland called out for everyone to leave the room. He struggled up from bed as he spoke words from another language at the creature. The old man put his hand forward and a force emanated from it toward the creature. The force shimmered as a wall in front of the creature. In the next second, the creature wiped it away with a swipe of his hand. It did nothing to stop the creature. The creature reached a hand toward Weyland who began to be dragged toward the creature. Weyland called on all the knowledge of the legacy he knew but without the ring he was vulnerable. The ring was the only defense this dimension had against the Diye Cagiriyor. He knew that the Diye Cagiriyor had used the delay in the ceremony to attack. William had not finished the transition and now their entire dimension was in danger. Now that the creature was here, it was likely that the transition would never be complete and the entire world and every living thing on it would be fodder for this creature. The creature curled his fist on his outstretched hand at Weyland who crumpled under the attack. His body betraying him, but his spirit not giving in. He called his daughter to take William from the room as he was being dragged slowly and unceasingly toward the portal.

William seeing his grandfather on the floor began to run over to him, inadvertently following the man's progress toward the portal.

"No!" Called Anne as she ran over to her little boy and her father.

Before William was able to reach his grandfather, he felt his mother's hands pulling him back. She put herself between her child and creature, who she knew would sense the ring in William's hand. She looked over at her father's face. It was filled with defiance and strength, yet in his eyes there was a glimpse of sorrow. Then, he was gone. The creature had achieved its' victory over an old enemy.

With a sob choking her throat, she began to attempt to move William toward the door. It was almost like the creature sensed the ring. It reached for the being he believed held it. Anne had blocked William from the creature's gaze, so it began to pull Anne. Anne feeling the first tug, pushed her little boy over toward his father. Anne fell to the floor as she wrestled against the force.

"Get him away from here! Please, James." Anne screamed at James.

Rushing toward her, James took hold of the child and placed him behind him. He saw Charlotte standing there. He quickly handed William over to her and turned back to Anne.

"Take him out of here! Take him somewhere safe!" James called over his shoulder.

Charlotte realized that neither one of the adults intended to leave this room without the other one. She placed her hands on the little boy's shoulders as she could not bear to look away from the events happening in the room.

Spike knew from his own experience as an adult with the creature, that if his parents were going to stay in the room with that creature, they would both be lost. He also knew that William had no idea what was going on. Somehow, his father managed to save his mother. My father was a hero. I never knew. For a few moments, Spike had his father back in his life, but now he had to resolve himself with his loss.

James bounded over to Anne. He wrapped his arms around her, but could not stop the progression toward the portal. He knew that he was going to do all in his power to keep Anne safe. He looked down into her eyes and just for a moment, there was nothing else but the two of them. He then broke their gaze and looked directly at the creature, tensing his mouth and narrowing his eyes. In the next moment, he stood up as Anne's arms reached for him and ran toward the creature ready for hand to hand battle. He disappeared into the portal. In that moment, the pull had ceased on Anne.

"No. NO. NO!" Anne's screams echoed throughout the house. The servants were at their stations in the house looked back to that area of the house with frightened eyes. Anne lost herself in her despair, crying huge sobs that shook her to the core. The fight had gone out her with James' disappearance. She was now willing to be taken by the creature, there was nothing left for her.

"Mummy? Please get up." a small voice pierced the silence.

"Oh God, no. William! Charlotte, Please take him out of here!" Anne begged her sister through her tears.

Then she saw her sister standing there holding Wiliiam's hand. Charlotte's eyes were fixed with purpose. Charlotte calmly walked William over by Anne in directly in line with the creature. She opened his hand and pulled the ring out of it. She forcefully jammed it onto his finger. She then wrapped her hand around William's hand with the ring. She pointed it at the creature and said the words. She spoke the words that should only be spoken by the steward of the ring.

A huge hum filled the room till it was a roaring sound . A red glow began to beam out of the conjoined fists. It got brighter and larger until it encompassed the woman and child. It became so bright, it was a roaring fire. Anne had never witnessed the ring react in such a way. In the next instant, the light filled the room. When it finally dissipated, Anne saw the portal was gone. She looked back to Charlotte and William. Charlotte was gone. William was lying on his face, absolutely still. It appeared he was not breathing. Anne pulled up to her knees as she awkwardly crawled over as fast as she could to her unconscious child.

She pulled him into her arms and flipped him over. He was absolutely limp, but he was alive. She smoothed his curls back from his face and she began to rock him slowly.

"William. William. Wake for Mummy. Please wake. Please. Please." She quietly begged.

William did not wake up for three days. When he did, he had no memory of what transpired after he was given the ring. Anne had stayed at his bedside for the entire three days. When William woke up he noticed that his mother's hair had gone white.

…

Spike found himself back at the other worldly stoa with Aunt Charlotte. She was standing there watching him

Spike hung his head and turned away slightly.

"Give us a minute, luv."


	21. Chapter 21

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

Author's note: Keep sending the reviews! It really motivates me to keep writing!

…

Chapter 21

Turning, Spike walked a few feet away from his Aunt Charlotte trying to process everything he had just experienced. His hand was to his forehead as he fought between the high emotions assailing him and his logical mind trying to make sense of this. Could this all be some sort of glamour he asked himself. But it felt so real. There were details that he had forgotten about. His mother's darker hair, the feel of his father's arms, the creature appearing in the room,… No. He must gain control of himself. Sniffing as tossed his head, Spike walked back to the woman, ready to confront her.

"So, that was an interesting little jaunt. What else do you have planned for me?" Spike glared at the woman. "I dare say you gave the Haunted House ride at Disneyland a run for its money."

"William, you must accept that you are engaged a battle that started thousands of years before you were born. You became part of it that night." His aunt admonished him.

"Or What? I'll lose my chance to be head towel boy at this magical pool house?" Spike countered.

"William, that is quite enough." His aunt responded.

"What if I don't think that's enough? Does that shock you? What if I tell you that the prissy little William you met that night doesn't exist anymore. What if I tell you that he died twenty years later in a stable on a darkened side street in London." Spike challenged the woman as he made a small lung at her. "You think you're talking to someone who doesn't exist anymore. Let me show you what your precious William has become."

At that moment, Spike attempted to vamp out in front of his aunt. The word was 'attempted'. As hard he tried, he could not bring forth the demon.

"You will not be able to bring forth the demon that is part of you in this place. He is foreign to this place." His aunt calmly stated. "He serves his purpose in the other realm."

"What do you…I am a vampire." Spike looked at the woman with shocked eyes. "It is what defines me…"

"No, William. You are much more. You only allowed the vampire to dominate you because you enjoyed the freedom it gave you." Aunt Charlotte stated emphatically.

"Well, why bloody not? It was a good time! There was nothing that could withstand my onslaught." Spike grinned as he stated the facts proudly.

"Yes, but did you ever wonder why you were so different from other vampires? Your human aspects were not subverted when you entered your next life as a vampire. It is because of our family legacy that you did not succumb to your demon. You had already accepted the ring before you were turned in that stable." Aunt Charlotte said as she approached Spike. "The ring was stronger than any vampire demon influence; with it, you became a very unique vampire. You held on to what was essentially you beforehand."

"Wait a minute. How many parts of me are we talking here? There was a part of me here with you. Another part of me was in that stable and now there's a demon part of me. You make me sound like a cheap dime store puzzle for slow preschoolers." Spike said exasperatedly as he countered his Aunt's approach. "So, you're telling me I'm a good boy now?"

"Indeed. You are complete again." Aunt Charlotte agreed.

"So, if this ring is so bloody powerful, why did it let me die in that stable?" Spike asserted.

"William, there were so many things that happened unexpectedly. The ring had accepted you that night, yes; but you did not have time to be indoctrinated on how to use it when the ceremony was interrupted. Your mother, my sister was so destroyed by the loss of her husband and family that she clung to you. Perhaps a bit too tightly, because she fettered you to her so you were never to reach your potential as a young man." Aunt Charlotte stated. "Something had to be done to release you from her."

"My mother loved me and I loved her. We only had each other." Spike answered, defensively.

"Yes. My sister was so broken that terrible night, losing so many of the people she loved. In her right mind, she would have never encumbered you with being the sole source of her happiness. Growing up, she bogged you down with her possessive hungry love that you were figuratively her prisoner. The only way for you to get out of that tight box she had pinned you in was for you to emotionally break with her." She clarified. "That is something that the sensitive human William would never do."

"So, that night, along came a spider in that stable and the ring just let me be the main course." Spike said as he grasped the situation.

"Who knows what is written in the stars for us. The ring needed a champion. At that time in your human life, your state was the farthest thing from a warrior. You needed something to awaken the fierce nature that lay within you. A demon would do that." Aunt Charlotte explained. "The ring did not interfere with you turning."

"Well, aint that bloody sweet? And here it is, knocking on my door, asking for my help. What if I say that I am not interested? It seems the ring really painted itself into a corner with me." Spike snapped. "Hello vampire. EVIL!"

"William, as I said before, you are so much more than that." Aunt Charlotte stated patiently.

"Alright. Let's say it's only William here. Where's the demon?" Spike challenged the severe looking woman.

….

A moment after Spike's body hit the apartment floor. A growl came from the body. Spike pulled the upper part of his body away from the floor pulling his head back. He had vamped out completely. His forehand bulged out and came down over his yellow eyes. The vampire's eyes traveled across the room measuring the people, taking in the situation as if he had never seen it before.

Buffy was kneeling next to him, looking over at him with concern on her face. Her hand was gently resting in the middle of his back. When she saw the evil face that looked up at her, she pulled back slightly. Spike sprang up, kneeling for a moment looking at Buffy with a tilt of his head as if he didn't recognize her.

"Spike?" Buffy said slowly and gently. Her voice betraying her anxiousness over the vampire.

With a roar, Spike launched himself at Buffy. She flew back with the vampire on top of her. Her head hit the floor; she wrinkled her face in pain. In that same moment, Spike reared back with his hands to head, with a guttural scream. He immediately jumped away from the Slayer as if burned. Desperately, he looked around at the rest of the humans that seemed to be surrounding him. Hunched over, he backed up slowly. It seemed that the vampire recognized the source of his pain. He flung an arm out in a wide arc to keep a distance from the humans. He whimpered slightly as the chip again fired with the defensive gesture. He staggered another several steps back away from the group. He got to the opposite end of the sofa. There was an open path to the front door. He bolted for the door to get away from the pain that these humans were causing him. He burst into vampire speed as he crossed the room and flung open the door. Sunlight came streaming into the room through the doorway. Spike backpedaled as fast as he could to get away from it and wound up again in the middle of the room. He spun around looking at the humans.

"Now listen, Bleached Wonder, we're all really tired of your..…" Xander said threateningly, as he approached

Spike growled and lunged at him, just stopping a few feet short as the chip fired again. Xander stopped mid step. Then remembering the chip as he watched the vampire react to the pain in his head, he balled up his fist in his other hand in front of him as he continued toward the vampire. Panting from the pain, Spike backed away from Xander toward the kitchen. Anxiously grasping her hands, Buffy came down to the end of the sofa which cut off that route of escape. Feeling trapped, the vampire's yellow eyes flitted from Buffy, to Xander, even over to Willow. Spike retreated until he stood at the entrance of the hallway by the kitchen. In a quick move, he grabbed a chair from the dining set and pulled it across the entrance and then turned and ran down the hall. Buffy and Xander rushed over to where Spike had been standing when they saw the door to the utility room close.

Xander turned around, raising his eyebrows.

"Yep, he's in the utility room." He announced to the room, blowing out a large lungful of air as he picked up the chair lying across the hall threshold.

The group next heard, the crash of items falling in the room. Wincing, Xander took a step to the side to look back down the hallway again.

"AND...It sounds like he's not coming out soon." Xander said, slowly shaking his head with his eyes widened and his mouth pull to the side as he turned back to the room.

Giles moved over next to Anya, a look of concern worrying his brow. He bounced the earpiece of his glasses against his chin.

"What's the matter, Giles?" Anya asked after noticing his worried expression.

"Oh, it's probably nothing." Giles stated, but then felt the need to continue. "I just have my favorite sweater back there. It is supposed to dry lying flat. I just hope Spike doesn't hang it up, it will be all misshapen."

"Yeah, vampires are known for their need to straighten up." Willow said, arching an eyebrow at Giles.

"Oh, quite." Giles responded guiltily.

Buffy turned to the group, with her arm extended down the hall.

"Did you notice that he didn't say a thing? Something's wrong. He acted like an animal. He knew the sun hadn't gone down yet, but he opened the door anyway." Buffy queried to the group, looking for any possible answers.

"Maybe… he forgot?" Willow offered as a reason.

"Hello, Vampire. I would think I would know when it was safe to go outside without bursting into flame. Buffy continued. "He acted totally surprised about his chip firing. We all know that he knows about the chip."

Hey, you're right. Why was he so confused? He was so panicked. Now, he's hiding in the utility room." Xander agreed. "That's not like Spike at all. He didn't say a word, not that I'm complaining."

"Yes, I would think Spike silence would be a blessing; however in this case, I think we just interacted with Spike's demon." Giles answered and went on to ponder out loud. "There was no higher thought controlling him. The vampire was acting on base instinct."

"So, if that's Spike's demon, what happened to Spike?" Anya asked the room.

….

"Your demon resides in the other realm." Spike's aunt said simply.

"You mean those Scoobies are dealing with one hundred percent raging vampire back there?" Spike asked in a stunned manner and began to laugh. "Oh, that's too bloody good! I would love to see how Xander is handling the ferocity of a rampaging primitive vampire. HEY! They better not stake me! Oh wait, the chip will probably keep ole toothy on the leash…too bad. It could have been fun."

"William, this is not the time to be distracted. You've been brought here to learn how to defeat the Diye Cagiriyor, once and for all." Aunt Charlotte said correcting the young man. "You are to be the instrument to deny him access to our universe."

"Hey, now wait just a minute. I did not agree to anything." Spike responded, puzzled.

"Yes, you did, when you accepted the ring." Aunt Charlotte stated.

"I was five years old. How did I know what I was accepting? I would have been in the bloody Peppermint guard for Father Christmas if you asked me back then." Spike shouted. "There are laws in California that prevent children from entering into contracts..you know!"

"Different time, different place, William. Nevertheless, you accepted the ring and the ring accepted you." His aunt countered. "You must finish the task. It is what your mother would have wanted."

"Oh, dirty pool, that last bit!" Spike said grudgingly. "All right. Say that is so. Then let's get this bleedin stupid thing over! Do your worst!" Spike stood there, snarling and balling his hands in fists.

Aunt Charlotte regarded the young man standing in front of her. Shaking her head, with a small sigh, she beckoned him to follow her. As he walked beside, his aunt commented.

"I have been here a long time with the child, William. I thought the dramatics were just part of his childishness. I see that I was wrong."

Spike's eyes flitted over to his aunt as a small scowl appeared on his face. The pair approached a large pair of doors. His Aunt stopped and turned to him.

"There is someone you must meet. That person will answer your questions." As she indicated the doors and said. "You must go in alone. This is as far as I am permitted. The child, William and I have waited a long time for you to appear."

"What's this? Why can't you come with me? Surely, you are just as much a part of this as I am." Spike asked.

"I broke the chain when I said the words of the twin stars to save you and your mother. This is my punishment." She took a step toward Spike. "I will tell you this. If you are successful in defeating the creature, I will be freed. William, be strong."

She put her hand alongside Spike's face. He looked into her eyes and realized that she had been taking care of him for a long time. Spike lowered his eyes as he nodded. He turned toward the door and pushed it open and went inside. The room was very dark; there was glowing light radiating along the edges of the room, giving an otherworldly feel. At the opposite end, he could just make out what looked like to be an altar. There was an outline of a figure standing in front of it.

…

A loud howl went up from the back room. It was so unearthly that the Scoobies froze in place for a moment. Buffy turned and rushed down the end of the hall, just in front of the door to the utility room. The other Scoobies soon joined her. Buffy grasped the knob and looking over her shoulder, slowly turned it. She inched the door open slowly and peeked around the door to see inside

Spike was curled up against the far wall. He was still in vamp face, but he seemed to be staring off into space while slightly rocking his body back and forth. He did not react as the door swung open to show all the humans standing there.

Buffy crouched down as she gradually approached the distress vampire. The remaining humans stood frozen at the door, watching the scene. Once she was in front of the huddled vampire, she placed her hand on his bent knee.

"Spike?" She said quietly.

Spike face faded back to his human visage. He looked over at Buffy with blue eyes, seeming lost and unfocused. He said one word to her and then slid into unconsciousness. Buffy stood up and looked down at the vampire lying curled at her feet. Xander and Giles came into the room and stood behind her, looking down at Spike. The girls were huddled behind the men, also peering down at the vampire.

Turning his head slightly to look at Buffy, Giles asked.

"What did he say?"

"Avestan."


	22. Chapter 22

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 22

Bracing himself, Spike stepped into the darkness that lay beyond the open doors. As soon as he was inside the doors closed behind him, sealing him off from the brilliance of the blue skies Unfortunately, in this realm, the lack of his demon meant that he did not have the advantage of the increased night vision. For a few moments, Spike was totally still in the pitch black as he waited for his eyes to adjust. After a while, Spike was able to discern a glowing light that emanated from the walls of the room. He was able to detect a trench in the walls that seemed to be holding glowing coals that cast a warm half light over the hall. Following the line of the trench with his eyes, Spike saw that it extended far beyond his line of sight, indicating that the space he was in was much bigger than he imagined at first. His eyes still not having completely adjusted, Spike looked around him to see what he could make out in the near vicinity. He could just make out the large cut stones that he was standing on and a nearby huge column. With his hands before him, he made his way over to column where he strained his eyes to look further into the room. He began to cautiously move forward into the nebulous expanse in front of him, slowly dragging his hands away from the pillar. He managed to navigate his way around the hazy silhouettes cast by the low uneven light coming from the glowing channel in the wall with halting ungraceful steps. Suddenly, he hit an incense burner with his thigh which he felt tumbling to the floor. Reaching out, he caught it before it went down but burned his hand in the process. With a soft grumble under his breath and shaking his hand to disperse the pain, Spike again started his forward projection into the obscure space. When he finally caught his toe on a small protrusion on one of the stone slabs in the floor which caused him to drunkenly stagger a few steps before he was able to catch himself, Spike's temper finally got the better of him

"Bleedin Hell! Would someone please turn on the bloody lights or kindly bring me a seeing eye dog!" he called out to anyone in particular.

At that moment, the trench with the coals flared up as great flames reached almost five feet, filling the room with light. Spike stood stock still where he was, astounded at what was before him. He was inside an immense ancient temple. Spike theorized that it was probably from one of those forgotten cultures that appear on one of the more popular scientific magazines. There were giant stone pillars covered in what looked to be some ancient symbols that went on forever. They went so high up, that they disappear beyond Spike's sight. Spike spun around, the temple was made out of polished iridescent stone, that shone against the light. In the center, was a dais which held what could be described as an altar. It was made out of a veined crystal. The crystal seemed to be spun colors of gold, purple and clear crystalline with lines of silver running through it. In the center of the altar was a glowing red crystal that seemed to send a vibration out into the space. Spike narrowed his eyes as he looked toward it. What he had first assumed was a figure, was a smaller dark purple altar standing to the side of the larger. Spike could see no one in the temple. Stretching his neck, he looked for someone who could clear up this mess he had found himself in. Seeing no one, Spike let out a heavy sigh while rolling his eyes. His patience was running thin.

"Hello! Anyone home? Oh , come on. It is not like you weren't expecting me!" Spike called out with irritation evident in his voice

"It is good that you are so eager. It will make things much easier." A gentle, but commanding voice said from beside Spike.

Spike wheeled about and looked where the voice came from. There stood a slight figure of what could be termed a man, but the power generating from it gave notice that it was much more. The man seemed to be glowing as well. Spike had difficulty looking directly at the man.

"Who…What?" Spike said, taking a few steps back before finally catching himself and standing still.

"Your questions will be answered in time." The supernatural being cocked his head as he regarded Spike. Walking slowly around him, he continued. " You are much different from many of your predecessors. A vampire. Interesting choice. I believe that you are much like the first paladin I chose for this quest."

"Paladin? Quest?" Spike said, wincing as he closed his eyes for a moment and turned his head away.

"Yes, you have many questions. Oh, your eyes.. I keep forgetting. Is that better?" The glow significantly lowered, so Spike was once again able to bring his eyes up to the slightly built man standing next to him. Looking at the man, Spike noticed that the man's eyes were a vibrant, brilliant blue, so much so that it was unearthly. A memory flashed in Spike's mind of his grandfather's eyes that dreadful night battling the creature.

"Yeah, cheers, mate. Please explain to me what bleedin want from me?" Spike asked.

"You are to represent me in a battle against an old foe. An ancient evil is reaching out to destroy your world." The glowing man answered, resolutely.

"Look, I think you got the wrong party here." Spike said as he pointed to his chest. "I'm a vampire, mate. I'm evil and all that. I should probably be on his team, you know."

The strange being seemed to entertained by Spike's response and smiled at that comment.

"You're being a vampire is not a concern." The man said, dismissing Spike's argument and continued. "I see that you've already saved your world once. You have a love for your world buried deep inside you. I think you are reticent to admit it to yourself. Did you ever wonder where that came from?"

"No. I am not one who goes in for self reflection." Spike said as he pulled up his chin in a defiant manner. "I like a little mindless violence, blood and sex. I am not that deep, so don't get all fruity on me with the inscrutable edicts. You got the wrong party, bloke."

The being broke out into laughter in the last few comments. His laughter bounced around the hall, making Spike a more than a little uncomfortable. Spike raised an eyebrow at the man. He was not expecting a supernatural being to have a sense of humor.

"I see you know yourself very well." The being smiled. "Let's get to the base of the matter then. I need you to defeat the creature that you know as the Diye Cagiriyor."

"Wha? Why me? It looks like you got a sweet set up here." Spike proclaimed as he held up his arms indicating the hall. "You must have got some power sweeping me here like such. Why don't you do it?"

"Unfortunately, I am barred from your realm. More than three thousand of your years ago, there was an epic battle between the creature and I. He was about to destroy your world in an effort to escape me. Your world is under my protection so I set up a barrier to protect your world and chose a paladin to maintain it." The being explained. "I chose a defiant young warrior whose ferocity in war and love gained my notice . He was escaping with the intended bride of a neighboring ruler with whom he had fallen in love. I approached both of them, offering them sanctuary and benevolence from their current situation in exchange for their allegiance of themselves and their bloodline to act as my champions in your world. The barrier weakens when the Arxik comet appears, so the creature has been able to periodically punch through to your world and grab magical energy. My champions stand to defeat the creature and close the portal."

"So, that's a nice little fairytale. So, what has that got to do with me?" Spike said slowly, as he gritted his teeth, fearing to hear the answer.

"William, you are the end of the bloodline. You must finally defeat the creature and banish him from your world forever." The being proclaimed.

"ME? I can't soddin believe this! I wish people would quit dragging me into thing without consulting me first!" Spike yelled out, stamping around in a small circle, displaying his aggravation at the situation. "I can just see, three thousand years ago, my ancestor saying 'Sure, I'll have a kid named Spike. He'll take care of it.' Well, I am not doing it! I am tired of doing the cleanup work!"

Watching the display for a moment, the being continued. "Regardless, how much you rant, the obligation is yours. The safety of your world is relying upon you. I bestowed the ring of the heart of two stars upon your ancestors. It is a fragment of the large stone in the altar there. That is the heart of the two stars, a source of great power. When the ring is given in true love, a mighty weapon is unleashed. It is only that weapon that can destroy the creature. From your memories, I see that the creature is already stalking you and your love. The ring by itself is only able to deflect him only temporarily. You and your love must access the weapon to begin the final battle and save your world once and for all."

"The ring? True love? I gave that ring to Buffy….Hey wait a minute. Are you saying that I love Buffy? That's soddin preposterous! She's a bloody Slayer! We're direct opposites." Spike said backing up and waving his hands. Then upon reflection, he stated, "I will say she has been acting off her nutter lately…but that doesn't mean she loves.."

"The ring only clarifies. The ring act as a balance between the two extremes of male and female. It does not create emotions, especially such deep heartfelt emotion. No, only true love would generate the power necessary to defeat the creature. I felt the power of the ring being unleashed and I know the creature has." The glowing being stated.

"Nah! You're just playin me. It couldn't possibly be…" Spike contemplated out loud, scratching his head.

"It is, however, how much you both try to deny it. It is time that I sent you back to your realm. You are complete now. You will easily dominate the demon part of yourself." The being announced.

"Wait, you haven't told me what I need to do." Spike said, puzzled.

"No, I don't need to. Your blood will tell you." The slight man stepped toward Spike and holding up his hand, pointing a finger toward Spike. The hand began to glow and a bright light began to gather at the fingertip pointing at Spike. "Once you return to your realm, all you need to do to is say my name."

"Wait a bloody minute. You didn't tell me your name!" Spike exclaimed.

"You already know it." The man said softly as he touched Spike over his heart.

…..

As Buffy and the Scoobies watched, a glow began to encompass the unconscious vampire. It became more dense and brilliant, The color changing from red to red hot to brilliant white. It almost obscured the vision. Buffy squinted her eyes, as she held up a hand to her forehead, willing her eyes to see Spike despite the pain. Then all of a sudden, the haze disappeared. It was like it had been absorbed into Spike. Quietly and smoothly, the vampire got up and sat on the floor, his eyes closed. He was eerily still and reserved, quite unlike Spike's natural exuberant self.

"Spike?"

He did not respond. He continued to sit there. Buffy turned her head to look over her shoulder at the Scoobies gathered together. She slowly brought up her hand and gave his shoulder a gentle poke. His body seemed to reverberate with the motion, like a drop of water sending out rings of disturbance. Spike eyes remained closed and he didn't react to the motion. He continued to sit there unaware of the presence of the surrounding humans as the tension filled the room.

"Hey Bleachboy! Wake up!" . Finally getting fed up, Xander called out to the still vampire.

"Xander! Empathy much?" Buffy admonished Xander from where she was sitting next to Spike.

"Oh come on, Buffy. It's Spike!" Anya interjected, defending Xander.

With an air of dismissal, Buffy turned back to her vampire. She had laid her left hand on Spike's shoulder as she addressed the group. Without her noticing, the stone in the ring had begun a subtle vibration. A hum seemed to emanate from it, as it came in contact with Spike. Very deliberately and slowly, Spike hand came up and gently closed over her hand. Buffy turned her head back to the vampire feeling her hand being held. Spike gently drew her hand from her shoulder, bringing it in front of him.

Spike slowly opened his eyes. Looking down, he saw that he had Buffy's hand clasped in his own. He slowly turned his head toward her and sheepishly raised his eyes. He looked at her with a mixture of disbelieving wonder and trepidation. Buffy looked back at him, the emotion in her eyes moving from concern to sheer love as she gazed at Spike. She noticed that Spike's eyes had never looked bluer than when they were looking at her right now with such vulnerability. She leaned closer to him.

"Bu..Buffy?" Spike said softly. He was looking deeply into her green eyes as if she was his salvation.

"Hmmm?" Buffy whispered to him, as she drew closer.

A cough interrupted the intimate moment between the two. Spike's eyes darted around the room and noticed the Scoobies standing there watching the interaction between Buffy and himself. Pulling his head back, and sniffing, he let go of Buffy's hand. Wiping his hands several times over his thighs in a quick manner, Spike pulled himself together and announced.

"Okay. Time to go!"


	23. Chapter 23

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 23

Spike got up from the utility room floor and purposefully marched into the main living area. He turned and waited for Buffy, Giles and the rest of the Scoobies to file in. He stood there with a renewed purpose, with his hands on his hips, tapping his fingers; while the Scoobies wandered with stunned expressions They scattered as they entered the room, that seem to give off an impression that a flock of ducks would have more directed purpose.

"Come on, ladies. Things to do." Spike commanded with a disparaging tone as his body language communicated that his patience was wearing thin.

"Spike, what is going on?" Giles asked in a perplexed tone. "You start off the evening, flinching from Buffy and then you're passing out .." Giles stopped talking once he felt the heated glare coming from the slayer aimed solely at him.

Buffy looked over at Giles with a shocked expression, her head rifling around to glare at Spike with her mouth open in indignation. Giving a stunned expression, Spike wrinkled his face and shook his head at Buffy indicating that never happened. Spike, then raised his eyebrows at Giles to see how he was going to handle sticking his foot in it, when Buffy turned back to glare at the Watcher. Giles winced slightly and tried to think of something to diffuse the situation quickly, but could only stutter in a panicked manner.

Totally flummoxed, Giles managed to stammer "Err…well.."

"Buffy, I think we're all a little overwhelmed right now- you know with the howling in the utility room and all." Willow spoke up, hoping to distract her friend from launching into a full on snit. "Spike, what was going on back there?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Spike sighed, bringing up a hand and letting it fall. He knew better to provide a detailed description of what just happened to this group.

"Who's up for a story? Let loose on us¸ Fangless." Xander smirked, looking around the room to see who would join in on the taunt.

"Yes, yes, I would enjoy a story right now." Anya said, moving forward, the hope apparent on her face. "I hope there are lots of sexy vampire scenes."

"Hey, what's with the sexy vampire thing?" Xander griped. "You're with me. Remember?"

"Oh, that's just the typical psychological substitution to distract from the lack of recent orgasms. I haven't had an orgasm for the last fifteen hours since you decided to sleep in this morning and not in a good way, but the unconscious way." Anya went on to reflect. "I am obviously going through withdrawal…I wonder if they could make a patch for that. If not, they should. I could see lines going around the block for an item like that in the stores."

With a mortified grin across his face, Xander peered around the room, as he let a huffing embarrassed laugh as if it was one big joke. Sauntering over a few steps, Xander leaned over to the ex-Demon, placing his hand on her arm to get her attention.

"Do I have to remind you about what constitutes a private conversation again? " Xander said in higher tone than normal, keeping his eyes averted.

"Xander, I do not understand why you support these idiotic social conventions about discussion of simple human pleasures." Anya countered, with a thrust of her chin. "It is already bad enough that you're human; but on top of that you've got traffic, taxes, uncomfortable family gatherings and heartbreak of psoriasis. I would think you would want to concentrate on the few benefits of being human. It seems to me that everyone would have a lot less energy for aggression, if they got happy more often."

For a moment, the rest of the occupants in the room just stood there in stunned silence at this discussion.

"I think she has a point." Willow said solemnly. She added as she looked at Giles' face. "Color me surprised."

"Yes, yes. I believe she does." Giles said, who pulled off his glasses, pinched his nose while giving his head a brisk shake. "Now back to what we were talking about. Spike, what exactly is going on?"

"Oh. Um. Right, right." Spike muttered glancing over at the watcher while trying to break the hold of Anya's revelation. He stood tall and declared. "I bleedin aim to defeat that creature tonight. I got a bit of an old score to settle with him."

"Spike, we don't even know what we're dealing with." Giles protested.

"He's a cunning deceiver. Aye, that's what he is." Spike spoke lowly as he recalled what Avestan had told him. Breaking himself free of his introspection, Spike suddenly shook his head and sniffed. "It's all about the ring."

"What? What about it?" Buffy said as she came forward to place her hand on Spike's arm.

"It is the means to defeat the creature and bar him from this reality permanently." Spike said as he picked up Buffy's hand and looked into her eyes.

"My ring? My ring is a weapon? And you're just mentioning this, NOW?" Buffy said slowly, withdrawing her hand from Spike's. Everyone could sense the rising level of danger in the air coming from the Slayer. "Who gives an engagement ring that's a weapon? I just can't get a pretty ring that symbolizes our love and devotion. Oh no, I don't merit a diamond of my own. She's the Slayer, just get her the equivalent of the Swiss army knife version of jewelry."

"It's not like I knew, pet." Spike answered softly. "You know that proposal was under unusual circumstances..in the heat of the moment, you know."

"Spike, how is the ring a weapon?" Giles interjected. Clearly intrigued by this latest discovery, he moved a few feet toward the vampire.

"I've come across some information. It turns out the creature has an old enemy, who was more than willing to share." Spike answered as he looked away from Buffy to Giles.

"Where did you find that out?" Willow asked, peering up from looking at the ring on Buffy's hand.

"I was informed of it while I was… never mind where I was. It was a good source." Spike said realizing how impossible the source of that information would seem to the Scoobies.

"Spike, if you knew this before…why didn't you mention it. I mean it would have been helpful to know this before now." Giles countered in an almost condemning tone.

"I didn't know before." Spike said, begrudgingly to the Watcher.

"So why do you know now?" Giles said, staring over his glasses.

"The ring." Spike said with a grimace, surrendering to the notion that he must provide the information of where he had been. "It transported me to another realm. I got the information there."

"Spike, you've been here the entire time, albeit snarly and moving furniture." Willow piped up

"Oh, that was the demon. He couldn't enter the realm so he was stuck here, enjoying all your lovely company." Spike smirked at the group.

"Yeah, that was your demon, so why didn't it attack us?" Xander blustered at the vampire.

"Hello, the chip also didn't make the trip. I am sure that the demon very much wanted to attack you. Believe me, I can understand the feeling." Spike said, with a roll of his eyes. "While you were dealing with the vampire demon side of me, I was undergoing a community college extension course on that unwelcome entity."

"From whom?" Giles asked, intently measuring the vampire's response as he pulled off his glasses.

"Let's just say an old family friend." Spike guardedly responded, looking at the floor.

"In the other realm…." Giles continued with his interrogation, intrigued by the vampire's reaction.

"Yes." Spike said calmly.

"That you were transported to…." Giles slowly stated, as if the questions had become difficult.

"Yes." The vampire said, emphatically, growing tired of the patronizing questions.

"Yeah, that's right. I know this story!" With a snort, Xander jumped into the conversation "So, how did you get back, Bleach boy? Click the heels of your ruby slippers three times?"

"Yeah, Spike, where's the sparkly footwear?" Anya giggled, who was the only one who seemed to enjoy Xander's joke.

"Are you sure you just didn't hallucinate it?" Giles asked, again trying to bring the conversation back to a strictly scientific disposition.

"No." Spike said, growing tired of the tedious questions. "It happened. I can feel it. I am complete now."

"Spike, you've been experiencing some highly tumultuous mental and emotional occurrences recently." Giles said as he cleaned his glasses. "It is quite alright if you admit that it is too much for you."

"Hey, I don't think I like what you're intimating, Watcher." The vampire warned with a growl in his voice. He glared at the Watcher with menace in his eyes.

"Spike, there's no reason to get upset. Giles is just expressing his concern that you may be…" Willow said as she stepped forward with her hand up toward the vampire, trying to placate the situation.

"Crazy? Again, with the vampire is just off his soddin block routine!" Spike uttered, turning away from the group and loudly announced. "ARGH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU BLEEDIN PEOPLE?"

"Hey, Spike, honey. I don't think anyone is saying that." Buffy interjected. "If you would just calm down and listen to what Giles is actually saying."

"What? You're on their side? You think I'm around the bleedin bend too?" Spike stared at the Slayer, his eyes betraying a hurt. Then after a moment, he pulled back his head and said. "Fine. Your precious Scoobies are never wrong! Far be it for me to get in between you and them."

"Well, Spike you have to admit what you're saying does seem a bit farfetched." Buffy said. "You know that I love you.."

"Oh, that's rich! This coming from a woman who delighted in the thought of me burning to death outside the Giles' doorway last week." Spike interrupting and turning away from Buffy. "Spare me your inflated platitudes."

"What did he say?" Willow whispered, leaning over to Anya.

"I think he's really lost it. I'm not sure…He seems to want us not to blow up a platypus or something..You know, I don't get these human idioms." Anya whispered back.

"Spike, please don't do this. You know this is hard for me." Buffy pleaded. "They're my friends."

"That's right Buffy. They'll always be there. Always. Right in between us. They're the main players in your life. I am just someone who is kept off stage." Spike declared angrily. Upon seeing no response coming from Buffy, the emotion boiled up in his voice. "Have it your way!"

Spike marched to the front door, grabbing his coat went out into the dusky courtyard. Slamming the door, he stood there for a moment, seething with anger and indignation. Pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, he took a long pull on it as he waited just outside of Giles' apartment. He just stood there as the moments went by like hours, listening for the door to open. Hoping that Buffy would appear, validating his worth to her. It didn't happen. Pushing down the hurt, Spike felt his anger well up inside him again until it became a consuming wave. Throwing down his cigarette and mashing it like a bug under his boot, he gritted his teeth as the emotion seethed within him. Without thinking, Spike's feet pounded against the cobblestones as he marched out of the courtyard toward the street.

Once he had achieved some distance from the building, Spike stopped as he took a deep breath. He allowed himself to calm down. He stood there for a moment to collect himself and reflect on just what happened. He looked down at his feet and then that's when he saw the little red lights trained on his chest.

"Buggar!"

….

Buffy turned around and looked at the Scoobies a moment after Spike flung the door closed after him. Her face reflecting the turmoil of emotions going on inside her, she asked herself why the Scoobies were more important to her than the man she loved. At that instant, Buffy chose a side.

"Why? Why couldn't you believe him? You know Spike. What reason would he have for lying? He's just as much as risk as anyone, maybe more." Buffy declared as she spun on the rest of the group.

"Come on, Buff. What he was saying was just impossible. You know, it's just too ..weird." Xander said with a skeptical grin on his face.

"Hello? Vampires, demons, witchcraft, there's a creature sucking everybody up….it must be Tuesday in Sunnydale! What's so hard to believe that he was taken to another realm?" Buffy demanded as she glared at the group. "Don't think I'm letting myself off the hook. I am just as guilty, maybe more of letting him down. I am telling you now, it stops tonight. You either respect Spike from now on, or you are out of my life. There, I said it!"

There were several moments of complete silence in the room, as everyone digested what had just been said. Then in order to break the uncomfortable atmosphere, Willow stepped forward.

"Uh, Buffy? " Willow gently spoke up, with some trepidation evident in her body language.

"Yeah?" Buffy stood there, shaking her head while beating herself up inside.

"Um..Spike went outside." Willow stated, trying to lead Buffy in a train of thought.

"I am not surprised. Seeing how he was treated in here." Buffy answered, with the remnants of anger still evident.

"Yeah, but he went alone." Willow said, gesturing to the door.

"So?" Buffy said, cocking her head to the side, not getting what Willow was saying.

"The Initiative?" Willow said in a high tone, with a nervous smile.

"Oh, Crap!"


	24. Chapter 24

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 24

Spinning around, Buffy wrenched open the front door of Giles' apartment and flew out into the early evening. It was that time of early evening when the sun had set and darkness seemed the most pervasive, creating gray shadows on top of one another, disfiguring the landscape until old familiar objects took on an ominous air. The stars were just beginning to wink in the night sky and the moon had not deigned to make an appearance, so the duplicity of the night was at its' height. It did nothing to quell the fear that continued to build inside Buffy as she made it out to the street, her hair flying around as she looked wildly for Spike. She looked up and down the street frantically, hoping to see a glint of platinum hair peak out of the darkness. She let a small moan escape from her lips as she did not see any sign of Spike in the gloomy surroundings. Then to her horror, she heard the sounds of a struggle, automobile doors opening and hushed urgent voices.

Running heedlessly toward the sound, she came upon two military garbed men who had just handing up a weak and barely conscious Spike up to two other similarly clad men in the back of the van that was concealed by some bushes. Seeing a helpless Spike being roughly handled by the men, Buffy impulsively ran up to the van. She grabbed hold of one of the men standing on the ground, pulled him around and punched him solidly on the chin. The soldier staggered back a step and collapsed at her feet. Wheeling about, she turned to face the other man standing at the van doors; she hit him with a wild uppercut, so that he flew twenty feet away and landed in some nearby bushes.

Inside the van, one soldier was pinning the incapacitated vampire to the floor with his knee as he was binding the Spike's arms to his body with canvas wrapped chains. He worked effortlessly and with machine like precision, so soon Spike was completely immobilized and was only able to move his head. Lying on his stomach, Spike felt the coldness of the shaped metal of the van's floor seep through his T-shirt, as he battled back the fog caused by the chip's shocks in his brain. Gathering his strength, Spike shakily lifted his head so that he could see the commotion occurring at the van doors. He saw Buffy easily dispose of the commandos that had just thrown him into the van. She still had her back to the van, as she watched the one man land in the bushes. Rapidly blinking to focus his eyes, Spike noticed that the other soldier in the van was moving toward the doors as he was reaching behind him. Sensing danger, Spike's eyes went to Buffy.

"Buffy…behind you." With an immense effort, he breathlessly called a warning to the Slayer. It was so weak, that the Slayer did not hear it.

Buffy felt a huge jolt of electricity surge through her body. She suddenly felt the eerily cool leaves of grass tickling the side of her face after being hit by a stun gun. As she lay there in a crumpled mass, she heard the men quickly gather their fallen and load them in the side of the van. She lay prone on the chilly dew covered ground, hearing the roar of the engine as it started up, taking Spike away from her. The doors of the van closed with a finality that cut deep into her heart. She felt the gritty dust cloud swirl around her as the sound of the tires screeching filled her ears as the van pulled away.

"Oh, Spike, I failed you. I am so sorry." She desolately whispered as she wished she could be lucky enough to pass out to escape this moment.

...

A minute after Buffy had charged out of Giles apartment, Willow and Xander looked at each other with a weary expression. Without speaking, the pair filed out the door to follow Buffy with a resigned air that indicated that it was another chore that had to be completed. They were in no rush, especially Xander who was drifting several feet behind Willow as they walked out of the apartment's courtyard. As they progressed, Willow kept turning her head to check on Xander behind her. Finally deciding to deal with the situation, she stopped and turned with her hands open at her side, her body language asking what was the difficulty.

"Okay, I'm coming. I don't see what all the fuss is. If the Initiative manages to grab Spike..Good for them." Xander muttered as he dragged his feet slightly quicker at Willow's pointed gaze and then muttered under his breath. "About time too."

Willow dragged an unenthusiastic Xander out to the street where they heard the sounds of fighting going on a little ways off in the bushes. By the time, they reached the area; they discovered Buffy lying motionless on the ground and the rumble of an engine fading off into the distance. Willow made a small sound as she knelt beside her friend, shaking her gently. Xander motioned Willow to stand up as he looked round the area. He knew that with the Slayer being unconscious, they were vulnerable. Together, they picked up Buffy, who hung limply between them and rushed her back to Giles' place.

...

Opening his eyes, Spike found himself once again strapped down against a gurney as he fuzzily watched a dotted line of florescent light fixtures stream overhead. Moving a rapid pace down the hall, he concentrated on the pattern of the lights, trying to keep the panic that was bubbling up inside him to a manageable level. "Okay, ducks" Spike told himself. "You really landed in it this time. You got yourself out of here before; you just have to do it again."

The gurney soon stopped at a pair of shiny aluminum doors. The gurney was turned and pushed through the doors with a sizeable crashing noise. With dread so thick that it clung to the back of his throat, Spike saw that he was being wheeled into a lab with multiple machines which hummed and glowed ominously. He had never been in this section of the Initiative before. It was located at the far reaches of the installation, where there were few beings, living or dead in the vicinity. For a brief moment, he wondered what he was in for and then quickly dismissed it as he really did not dwell on that train of thought. He heard voices coming from behind him. He heard the corpsman that had been pushing the gurney address a person who was just entering the lab.

"Hostile Seventeen, as you requested Sir." Spike heard a young man's earnest voice over the drumming sound of the machines.

"Thank you corporal. You're dismissed." An older, tinny sounding voice replied.

Spike tried to lift his chin to see if his suspicions were correct about the owner of that voice, but the straps held him down so tight, that he was only able to tilt his head back a little ways. He could not get the correct angle to see who exactly he had been left with. He began to struggle against his bonds as he heard footsteps approach the gurney.

"Well, it is good to have you back, Hostile Seventeen. You were one that I was keeping my eye on, I'll tell you that. You survived the first phase of behavior modification on subclass demons. None of the other demons in this study passed that phase. You're to be the first subject to enter the second phase." The soft yet sinister looking doctor said as he came up on the side of Spike.

The scientist was busy reviewing the papers on his clipboard, and looking over at Spike dismissively from time to time. It was Dr. Kitts, the bristling number two researcher who worked under Dr Walsh. Dr. Kitts was the most dangerous type of doctor; he had something to prove which definitely increased the hazard level if you were just a test subject. Dropping his hand that was holding the clipboard, Dr. Kitts smiled a small self satisfied smile at Spike and stated.

"Well, let's get started, shall we? Nurse."

The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at Spike before going back over to the machines. On the other side of Spike, a military nurse in scrubs appeared.

"You Wanker!" was all that Spike got out of his mouth before a rubber gag was jammed into his mouth and secured around his head. The nurse flipped a large box like leather harness around Spikes head that did not allow him any movement. It covered most of his face except for small cutouts for eyes, nose and mouth but the largest opening was over his forehead. Spike's blue eyes dashed around the room from the narrow openings in the harness for his eyes. A small metal tray with half a dozen electrical leads was pulled up and hung suspended over Spike's chest. The nurse began to carefully pick up a color coded lead and attach them to Spike's forehead.

...

When Buffy began to shake off the effects of the taser, she found herself lying on Giles' couch. She sat up so suddenly that she startled Anya who had been sitting on the floor staring at her.

"She's awake!" Anya announced to the apartment.

"Spike!" Buffy gasped her heart in her throat. "The Initiative got Spike!"

"Couldn't happen to a nicer vampire!" Xander answered back with a smirk. Willow muttered an admonishment under her breath about being cruel that wiped the smile off Xander's face. With concern on his face, Giles came forward and gently but firmly placed his hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"You should rest. You're still recovering." Giles said, using his best soothing voice.

"There's no time. We don't know what they could be doing to Spike." Buffy pleaded as she grasped Giles' hand on her shoulder "We have got to get him out of there!"

"Buffy. Listen to Giles. You do not need to concern yourself with Spike. He is a vampire, so he is dead already." Anya said matter of factly as she stood up. "Really, what can they do?…Make him a little more dead-er? "

"I think you made it pretty clear about how you feel about Spike, but I love him. I need your help. If you're my friends, you'll help me rescue him." Buffy appealed to the Scoobies. Seeing that none of them was jumping up to respond, she added. "Wow! Disloyal much? I really thought you guys were a lot different. Okaaaaay…I guess I was wrong."

Standing up, Buffy put her hands on her hips as she coldly looked at her supposed so called friends. Narrowing her eyes, she was determined to get their help, voluntary or not.

"Let me put it to you this way. Spike is the only one who knows how to defeat that guy…Diye Corregidor or whatever. So, if you don't help me, we're all going to be served up as tasty morsels for that creature." Buffy fumed at the group, with thunder in her eyes. "I don't see where you have any choice. We either rescue Spike or start figuring out what wine should be served with us."

"All right, Buffy. You made your point." Giles said, looking at the others over his shoulder. He turned back to Buffy with resolve. "What do you want us to do?"

"We need a plan. We need to get in and rescue Spike fast." Buffy said as she began to march back and forth. She suddenly stopped. "We also don't know when this Diye Camembert is going to appear, so we need to be prepared for that too."

"Buffy, just a correction. Camembert is a cheese." Giles said slowly to correct the Slayer's malaprop on the creature's name.

"Listen, anyone who gets in between me and my vampire is fondue!" Buffy loudly proclaimed

"Is anyone else getting hungry?" Anya asked as she perked up at the mention of food. Seeing no one else respond, she became quiet and looked around with guilty eyes.

"Alright, Buffy. Xander and Anya will help you break in to the initiative to rescue Spike." Giles said calmly as he walked toward Willow. "There was something that Spike said that got me thinking. Willow and I will work on constructing a weapon to use against the creature as a back-up, just in case."

"Buffy, do you even know where this Initiative is?" Xander said, tilting his head at Buffy.

"When I caught Spike when he ran away from Giles, he started tearing at the grass at a spot on campus. He said it was where he came out of when he first escaped. It is over by the trees in front of the campus power plant." Buffy looked around at the group. "I think that is our way in."

...

Dr Kitts turned away from observing Spike's reactions on the gurney and walked away to record the readings on some dials on one of the machines.

"Interesting…You really surprise me, Hostile Seventeen. I thought you would have dusted like many of your compatriots by now. Yet you still manage to hold on. "Dr Kitts uttered dismissively without turning around. His tone gave the impression that he was speaking to a lab rat that had finished a maze in record time. The scientist came back toward the gurney. "Your chip seems to be doing an excellent job."

Spike's bloodshot and pain filled eyes shifted over to look at the doctor who perched himself on a rolling stool beside the gurney. The gag moved in Spike's mouth as he desperately wanted to voice an insult at the smug scientist sitting there. Making a notation on his clipboard, Dr Kitts pushed his stool over to the panel where he rolled his stool around without getting up.

"Now that the preliminary tests are done, we can move on. You're about to make history, Hostile Seventeen." Dr. Kitts said smiling. He turned to the panel flipped a few switches. He turned to watch the vampire while he had his hand resting on the panel. Watching the vampire intently, he turned a dial with a vicious turn of the wrist.

Spike's world went white.

...

After Buffy, Xander and Anya left to go rescue Spike, Giles turned back to the room and headed over to his bookcase. He turned his head over his shoulder to speak to Willow as he walked.

"Willow, look up whatever you can on mystical purposes of plants. We're looking for something that has to do with truth." Giles said as he pointed a finger at the computer that the young woman was sitting at.

"Why are we looking that up for?" Willow looked up perplexed from her computer.

"It is what Spike said about the creature. He said he was a deceiver." Giles said as he began to pull large impressive looking books off the bookshelves.

...

Buffy led Xander and Anya to the spot by the campus power plant where Spike said he escaped from the Initiative. She could still see the spots where he had torn up the grass. She got down and ran her hand over the grass trying to see if there was something odd about the spot that would indicate a door. Xander and Anya stood there, not knowing what the Slayer was doing. Xander looked around to see if anyone was there to witness what he considered their foolish antics. Anya was getting cold and wanted to go back to the apartment, so she soon lost her patience with the situation.

"It looks like it isn't here. Let's go back!" Anya firmly declared.

"SHHH!" Buffy sniped at the ex-demon. In the next second, Buffy located a handle hidden amongst the grass. Wrapping her hand around it, she pulled up with a grunt coming out of her teeth. A large metal panel came up in her hand. It was the access panel to the ventilation system of an underground installation. Below ground there appeared to be a myriad collection of ventilation ducts and ladders.

"Believe Spike now?" Buffy said with a sense of accomplishment, easily tossing the heavy panel to the side. "Come on, let's go!"

"So, you found an access panel, Buffster. It doesn't mean anything. I mean we're right next to the power plant." Xander said, looking nervously down the opening. "I mean we could get electrocuted going down there."

"You're not going to go, are you? Fine. If you're not going, stay here and be a look out." Buffy commanded as she began to lower herself down the opening. "Coming, Anya?" Buffy asked as she turned her head toward the girl, who was bouncing on her feet trying to keep warm.

Looking over at Xander, Anya shrugged her shoulders.

"It's gotta be better than freezing out here." Anya qualified as she moved toward the opening, cutting in front of Xander, whose expression betrayed his shock.

Watching his girlfriend begin to go below ground, Xander looked around, realizing he was alone. Rationalizing that he knew he would never hear the end of it, if he let the girls go on alone. Letting out a disgruntled sound, he lurched toward the ladder in the opening, calling out:

"Hey, wait for me! Girls? Girls?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 25

Xander descended the ladder passing a multitude of access tunnels and ventilation shafts. He thought he had climbed down in time to catch up with Buffy and Anya, but they had instantly disappeared almost as soon as he grabbed the ladder. Problem was that he didn't know which opening they had gone through. He stopped at a major intersection of access tunnels.

"Come on, Harris! Get off the pot!" Xander muttered to himself.

He immediately ducked into one of the shafts hoping that he made the right choice. He hoped he would be lucky enough to run into the girls.

…

Buffy and Anya were crawling along an aluminum air shaft. Buffy was making incredible time and Anya was hard pressed to keep up with her. Anya was beginning to regret not staying above ground. This shaft was insanely dusty and the aluminum hurt her knees. To Anya's relief, she saw that Buffy was beginning to slow as they approached a large vent. They were in an air duct that hung about seventy feet over the main surgical theatre area of the Initiative. There was an upper level that surrounded the theatre, where soldiers were milling about, and transferring bound demons from the holding areas to the theatre.

Buffy lay on her stomach to peer through the vent looking for her vampire. Anya slowly came along side her and lowered herself down with an 'Oomph!'. Breathlessly, Anya wriggled her way to place her head next to Buffy's.

"Are you sure the Initiative got Spike?" Anya whispered, taking a quick look at the intent Slayer.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Buffy said without looking up, her head turning every which way in order to look for Spike.

"Well, I don't see him. Let's go!" Anya said quickly after a cursory look. She began to get to her knees again.

"Just wait. They may have him stashed somewhere. This is the main area, they've gotta bring him through here." Buffy grumbled through gritted teeth and put a hand on Anya's back to keep her in place.

"I hope they do it soon. This is uncomfortable and my clothes are getting all dusty." Anya complained as she turned her head to look through the vent once again. "Hey, Doesn't he look interesting." She said pointing to a strikingly handsome demon with a forked tongue that slipped occasionally outside his lips. He was handcuffed and being escorted by two soldiers. "Maybe, we should rescue him too." Anya nodded enthusiastically at Buffy. Then she stopped as a memory hit her. "Wait a minute, I know him. He was a bit of dick the last time he spoke to me." Leaning forward, she snarled, curling her lip. "Sorry, Bucko! You're on your own!"

Buffy turned her head to regard the ex-demon beside her, as she gave a heavy sigh.

…

Dr. Kitts was very impressed by the fortitude of the blonde vampire on the gurney in front of him. Checking the dials again, he saw nothing on the monitor but snow. Hostile Seventeen had managed to resist the lower levels of the Mnemosyne aspect of the chip implant. However, the night was young and this was a strong vampire. He most certainly would have to be in order to survive the first phase of the chip implantation. Many of the previous subjects expired within forty-eight hours of chip implantation. They continued to attack regardless of the consequences of the chip until it finally killed them. This vampire was different. He seemed to be able to logically weigh the consequences of his actions and act outside of his instincts. This subject was extraordinary; he would have to be in order to survive the neurological ramifications of the chip.

Dr. Kitts was rather excited to move on to the psychonomic section of demon behavior control research. Once the specific areas of chip that dealt with memory were fully enabled, the creature's entire memories would be available to access. Not only would the Initiative benefit from the years of experience and wisdom that these creatures held, but the chipped demons could be sent out to record information like a recorder. Humans would no longer have to expose themselves to danger. Faulty information gathering would be a thing of the past. The creatures would be a more efficient and profitable agent at intelligence gathering than any so called human soldier. Dr. Kitts could just envision the praise and award being heaped upon him in the near future.

Turning back to the panel, Dr. Kitts made further adjustments, writing down the readings on his clipboard. He walked over to a barely conscious Spike on the gurney. The nurse who was busy retightening the straps that held Spike stopped her work and waited for the Doctors orders. Kitts patted the vampire on the shoulder, like a good dog. The patronizing gesture roused Spike enough to focus his bleary eyes on the doctor with a hate filled gaze.

"You're doing very well, Hostile Seventeen. You're doing so well, in fact, that we are going to jump ahead." Dr Kitts said with smarmy grin. "I am going to see how you react to a level five transmission."

"Doctor, anything past level three transmission can cause immediate dusting of vampires." The nurse spoke up, with shocked eyes. "I don't think ...

"Don't tell me what to think, Nurse." Kitts threatened. Then with a sickening sweet tone, he addressed Spike. "Hostile Seventeen and I are going to create history, aren't we?"

Spike bit against the rubber gag in his mouth and balled up his fists as he tried to pull them from the restraining straps. As exhausted as he was, all he could think about was tearing that Doctor's head away from his shoulders.

Doctor Kitts had the nurse check the leads attached to Spikes forehead. The nurse did not look down at the blue eyes peering up at her. It was better for her to consider these creatures as lab rats, never mind how much they resembled humans. The nurse nodded at the doctor and stepped away from the gurney.

Doctor Kitts was enjoying himself so much; he decided to have a little joke as he reached toward the panel.

"On your mark. Get set. GO!"

…..

Buffy was still peering through the vent looking for any sign of Spike, when a blazing pain went through her hand. She made a sharp cry before she managed to stifle the sound. She cradled her hand to her as she curled up into a fetal position. She looked down at the source of the intense pain. It was her left hand. It was the ring. The stone had gone from red to bright blue. It was tearing away at her strength, seeking to gain purchase. She could feel it clawing at her presence, like a hungry animal.

Every self preservation instinct told her to remove the ring. Somehow, her heart knew that if she did that she would lose Spike. She knew that she had not stood by him earlier that evening; she was not going to abandon him now. With intense resolve, she closed her eyes; she gritted her teeth and held nothing back from the ring. If Spike needed her, she would offer herself wholly for him.

…

Spike could feel the blinding intense pain radiate throughout his head. It was burning vortex within him. He could tell this was it. There was no way that he could survive this. No way he WANTED to survive it. He was going to dust. One part of him buried so far within him called out. There was an answering call. It was…It was Buffy. She was giving him strength. She was keeping hold of him, as if he was suspended over the edge of the cliff. There was something pulling him down, but she was equally determined not to let him go. The two forces were at a standstill. He knew that he had to do something to change the outcome or both he and Buffy were lost.

Spike's mind was reeling, searching for anything. Instantly, he thought of Avestan. "What was it Avestan said? The blood would know. The blood… The Blood." In that instant, his mind brought up the image of his grandfather, then going backwards the images of all the bearers of the ring before him, back to the original paladin riding beside the black sea. Then, there was the face of Avestan with his eyes glowing blue. "Don't think. Just Do!"

In that moment, Spike's eyes snapped open. His entire eyes were filled with a vivid blue light. Spike raised his head slightly and then flung it back. A wave of blue energy burst forth from him, incinerating the leads on his forehead, knocking Doctor Kitts and the nurse back against the wall. The machines all sputtered, smoked and burned out. The lights went off in the room and the room was silent except for the occasional crackling of a machine still sizzling. Spike lay unmoving on the gurney.

…

Xander had gotten himself completely lost in the maze of shafts. One wrong turn upon another and he now found himself on the outer edges of the Initiative. He had begun talking to himself as he trudged along the shafts. He was berating himself for following the girls down into this Gordian knot of shafts. He swore if he ever got out of here, he would never again accompany the girls on anything that meant crawling through small openings. He had had enough.

Xander had been crawling through the darkened passages since there was no or little activity in this area of the Initiative. He was about to turn around when he saw the glow of some light up ahead. Maybe, if he could see where he was, he could get his bearings and get out of here. He moved forward and was just about to look through the vent, when a bright light flared up through the vent. Xander reared back and covered his face with his arm. When he lowered it, he saw that very little light was coming through the vent. He made his way over to vent and saw that he was looking down into a lab. There were two researchers in white lab coats lying on the floor. There was a body tied down to a gurney. There was something familiar about that body on the gurney. It was then that he recognized the black T-shirt and Doc's on the feet. Looking a little harder, he could swear he saw a glint of platinum hair peaking out under that contraption on the subject's head. It was Spike.

"Decisions, decisions. 1. I could just pretend I never found Spike. Buffy would never forgive me if she found out. 2. I rescue Bleach Boy. Ew! I guess that make me a hero- that's not too shabby. 3. It looks pretty nasty down there; even Spike doesn't deserve that treatment. Oh, and I'm still a hero! - Again, big plus! Hmmm." Xander muttered as he looked and drummed his fingers against his mouth, deep in thought. "Okay. Let's do it…." Xander added the last line in a deep baritone hero like voice as he pulled up a bent arm even with his chest and wrinkling his brow. "BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING. DAT DAT DAA!"

With that, Xander kicked out the screen and dropped into the lab. Avoiding the sparking machinery, he made his way over to Spike. He found the vampire in a dreadful state. Spike seemed to only be slightly conscious and he wasn't responding to Xander's voice. Xander undid the leather hood covering Spike's head and pulled out the blood caked gag. He bent down and released the straps that held the vampire to the gurney. Turning around, Xander went to check on the humans in the room. Neither of them was conscious, but they both had good strong pulses. Stripping them both of their lab coats, Xander returned to Spike, who hadn't moved and laid the coats on the tray beside him.

Just then, he heard footsteps come running down the hallway outside the lab doors. Grabbing the keyboard, Xander went to stand just to the side of the doors. The young corpsman came in the doors, looking for the doctor. Xander snuck up behind him and bashed him in the head with the keyboard. The corpsman collapsed unconscious. Seeing the key card hanging from the corpsman's belt, Xander grabbed it. He returned to Spike and pulled him up to a sitting position.

"Spike! Spike! You gotta wake up! I'm going to get you out of here. Can you walk?" Xander asked as he braced the vampire shoulders, snapping his fingers in front of Spike's face.

Spike nodded, but his head was bouncing around like a bobble head. Rolling his eyes, Xander didn't really believe Spike's response. Quickly wrestling Spike into one of the lab coats and himself into the other, Xander pulled Spike into a standing position from the gurney. Spike began to sink down almost immediately. Xander wrapped Spike's arm around his neck as he supported the dazed vampire's weight

"Man, you're so going to owe me!" Xander muttered with a disgruntled sigh.

"My hero." Spike muttered, looking at the floor with a low, pained chuckle. Spike did not even have the strength to look up to see Xander's pained expression.

Xander pulled Spike out into the hallway as the two of them staggered ungainly together. Spike was nearly passing out with pain and exhaustion, but did his best to keep his feet moving, relying on Xander to locate the nearest exit.


	26. Chapter 26

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 26

In the dark, Willow and Giles were working feverishly cutting up some of the bushes that were part of the landscaping outside his apartment complex. They had already gathered a number of branches that were laying a loose pile between them. Wearing heavy leather gloves, they were busy, cutting more branches from the holly bushes and stripping them.

"Giles, Are you sure this is going to work?" Willow asked as she gingerly reached into the holly bush to grab another stem to cut with the shears in her other hand.

"Willow, we can only hope. There is very little that we can fight with in this dimension against the Diye Carigoyor. Spike said it was a deceiver. A Deceiver is a term used for old evil. Holly has a mystical purpose of overthrowing old power." Giles responded. He cast a look toward some lighted windows on the bottom floor and muttered. "Speaking of old, I just hope my landlady doesn't look out her window and see us doing this. I'll never be able to explain it."

…

After nearly five minutes of unsuccessfully navigating the gleaming corridors of the Initiative, Xander stopped to catch Spike as the vampire faltered beside him. Looking around anxiously, Xander had become increasingly frustrated with the search for an exit out of the complex. Every corridor looked exactly the same and gave no indication of an exit hidden amongst the many doors. Every doorway, they discovered led to another lab or holding area. As time passed, Xander felt the situation getting desperate. It was just a matter of time before that corpsman or the doctors woke up in that lab and sounded an alarm.

"Oh. Come on! How did this place ever pass a fire code? There are absolutely no fire exits! When I get back to Giles, I am calling the Fire Marshall about this!" Xander complained as he stretched his neck to peer down the corridors.

Resting for a second, Xander took a deep breath and then choosing a direction, determinedly charged ahead pulling Spike along with him. In the next moment, he had managed to bumble across a major intersection of hallways to his surprise. Xander could tell from the sound coming down from one direction, that there was a lot of activity and people that way. Reasoning that area may be their only avenue of escape, he decided that they may have to bluster through to get out of this place. Xander bolstered Spike up a little more on his feet.

"Okay, Deadboy. We're going into the heart of the hive. It may be the only way out. Time to look scientific!. Remember, no vamping! Do your best to look hurt." Xander muttered, adjusting Spike's lab coat. After a moment, looking over at the incapacitated vampire, he added. "Good job!"

Xander hauled Spike along down the corridor, toward the noise. Abruptly, they were approached by a pair of the camouflaged covered commandos who towered over Xander by, at least, four inches. The soldiers stood in front of Xander and Spike, blocking their path. Seeing the lab coats, the soldiers looked questioningly at them. Xander yelled that one of the test subjects had gotten out and attacked them in the hallway. He was busy taking his coworker to Medical. He frantically waved his other arm back indicating the hallway behind him, sending the soldiers charging away down the corridor.

"Okay, Spike. That worked. We gotta keep moving. Stay with me." Xander muttered under his breath.

Xander took another breath and began to move them forward. Spike made a small noise at the back of his throat, signaling his agreement. They began to ungainly move across the main annex when they were again stopped by another soldier.

"Out of my way, soldier! I am taking him to Medical." Xander commanded in an officious tone. He was surprised when the soldier did not move.

"Yeah! See, here's the thing. Medical is the other way." The soldier sneered, ominously crossing his arms and staring at Xander.

"Oh, well. I must have gotten turned around." Xander bluffed, with a raise of his eyebrows.

Xander ungracefully turned Spike around and was starting to walk away, when he felt the clap of the soldier's hand on his shoulder.

"You're not going anywhere. I recognize that vampire. He's the one we just brought in tonight." The soldier stated, pulling Xander back roughly. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You know, if you had a natural hair color, we'd be outta here by now." Xander muttered as he let Spike slip to the floor and turned to wrestle with the soldier.

…..

Anya saw the gleam of Spike's hair jump out at her as she peered through the vent hanging overhead of the annex. There was something familiar about the other figure that made her look closer at the pair entering the annex. Wasn't that Xander? Wow, she thought, he is just always full of surprises. Bumping Buffy with her elbow, she pointed out the pair moving slowly into the annex to the Slayer.

Buffy's eyes instantly became riveted on the pair. She saw the pair being stopped and Xander speak briefly to some soldiers who then ran on past them. She saw that Xander and Spike were both wearing lab coats in order to pass themselves off as part of the staff. They were trying to escape, but there were a lot of soldiers down below and the odds did not look good for the pair.

She gasped as she saw the state of Spike. His head was hanging down and he was just barely moving the toes of his boots forward as Xander pulled him along. What had they done to him? The thoughts of someone harming Spike caused her to seethe with malevolence toward the Initiative or anyone associated with it. A red ball of anger began to build in her as she watched Spike stagger beside Xander in a state of near collapse.

When the second soldier stopped the pair, all her attention fixated on that exchange. She saw Xander trying to bluff his way past the solder. She saw Xander try to turn around but was stopped by the soldier holding him by the shoulder. When she saw Spike slump to the ground as Xander began to fight the soldier, she almost lost her mind.

"Get back up ground!" Buffy gruffly commanded Anya. "I got things to take care of here."

With her fiercely determined look in her eye, Buffy sat back and kicked out the vent screen with her foot. The screen swung down and hung for a second on the corner, before it clattered to the floor far below. Buffy dropped down through the opening, catching her hands on the edge and holding on as she dangled in the air over the surgical theater. Intimidated by the whole warrior princess action by Buffy, Anya turned with a yip and scurried back down the vent toward the access shaft on her hands and knees.

Looking down at the scene below her, Buffy kicked her legs until she got enough momentum to swing over to land on the balcony that surrounded the surgical theater. Flinging her body away from the ductwork, she landed in a crouch on top of the vehicle with a large boom. Her eyes were latched on to the soldier wrestling with Xander, she growled as she flew down the vehicle toward them. Grabbing the soldier by the back of his coat, she roughly pulled the soldier off Xander. She used such force that the solder was tossed like a rubber ball about twenty feet away. His body slammed up against the wall near the entrance of the holding pens, crushing the panel of buttons that controlled the pens.

All the doors of the holding pens of the demons held by the Initiative immediately opened. The demons and vampires came pouring out as alarms and red lights were flashing. More soldiers poured into the annex and began to fight arm to arm combat with some of the escapees, while other soldiers began to shoot at others. The demons violently fought for their lives and freedom, taking out as many soldiers as they could in their effort to escape.

The grin that Xander gave Buffy when she turned toward him spoke volumes about how glad he was to see her. Conscious of the danger surrounding them, Buffy hurriedly motioned toward Spike and pointed to a space away from the violence. Buffy and Xander pulled Spike over to the protection of some large crates that were standing over to the side. She quickly looked at Xander who nodded at her that he was okay. She then turned her attention to the disoriented vampire who was barely moving between them. She seemed at a loss as she held her hands over him, looking frantically up and down for wounds, not wanting to add to his pain.

"What did they do to him?" She asked Xander, looking up from Spike with hurt and concern in her eyes.

"I don't know, but it was pretty ugly." Xander responded as he ducked down behind the crate. "Look, we gotta get out here. This is not going well for either side."

"Spike?" She said as she gently smoothed his hair and cupped his chin in her fingers. He began to move his head back and forth and blearily blink his unfocused eyes as he tried to come to full consciousness.

Xander peered around the corner of the crates at the fierce fighting that was now occurring a few feet away from them. He quickly turned and knelt down as he looked at Buffy and Spike.

"I don't think now is the time for grand reunions." Xander said , looking back and forth trying to measure the situation. " I think we'd better get..OW!"

A large mottled colored demon had come up behind Xander and seeing his lab coat grabbed hold of him. The demon quickly pulled Xander about twenty feet away from the crates. The demon growled as he grasped Xander around the neck, suspending him in the air. Xander's eyes were huge as he ineffectually batted at demon's arms to let go. The Demon laughed and was about to tear his head from his body when Buffy slammed her fist into the back of the demon's head. The demon slid to the ground unconscious, releasing Xander in the process. Buffy looked up from the demon while a very relieved looking Xander tried to control his breathing as he put a hand to his neck.

"You okay?" Buffy asked, breathlessly.

Xander nodded. Buffy turned to go back to Spike. Xander followed, but not until after he gave the demon a well placed kick.

"Okay. Let's get outta here!" Buffy commanded as she jogged back to retrieve Spike from behind the crates.

As Buffy turned the corner to the area where she had left Spike, she froze in shock. Spike was no longer lying there. He had disappeared.

"Buffy, we gotta get outta here!" Xander yelled as he came up behind her. The air was filled with the sounds of gunfire and demon screams.

Standing, Buffy's head whipped around as she desperately looked for a sign of her vampire. She was now frantic with worry. Spike was not even conscious when she had left him. The thought of a demon getting him or worse yet, the soldiers, sent a chill down to her bones. She could not leave until she found him and had him safe in her arms.

"I can't find Spike! I'm not leaving without him. You go!" She said as she pushed Xander toward the double doors.

Xander bounced on his heels, watching the Slayer, knowing that there was nothing he could do to change her mind. He turned and ran toward the doors, dodging the remaining soldiers and demons that were still fighting.

Climbing up on the crates to see if she could locate Spike, Buffy grumbled with frustration when she did not see a sign of him. Climbing down, she began to run through the annex, ignoring demons and soldiers as she made her way through the chaos. Single minded in her task, she called Spike's name as she continued to madly look for the vampire. Any demon or commando that was unlucky to hinder her search found themselves knocked aside by the overstressed Slayer. Every moment that Buffy did not find Spike, increased her fear that something dire had happened to him.

Suddenly, a blinding flash obliterated all objects in her field of vision in front of her. Temporarily blinded by the flash, Buffy staggered over to the middle of annex, catching her toe on a body lying on the floor. She lunged forward for a few steps before she was able to right herself. Squinting in the unnaturally bright light, she continued her desperate search for Spike. To her dread, she heard an alien voice chanting, something she realized she had heard before. The Diye creature had appeared once again.

As her eyes begin to focus again, she witnessed the chaos swell to new heights around her. The demons immediately began to surge away from the portal that had appeared above the surgical theater; however many were not quick enough and were slowly being dragged back to disappear in front of her watering eyes. She watched a vampire release a soldier it had pinned to the ground and attempt to flee from the creature. The vampire brushed past Buffy and made it a few feet before it too started to be drawn back toward the portal. Buffy could see the fear in the vampire's eyes as it fought against the inescapable pull. It clawed at the floor, screaming until it was suddenly not there anymore.

The entire annex was under siege from the creature. The soldiers were retreating to regroup against this new threat. They began firing at the Diye, finding that their bullets to have no effect, only melting away at the entrance of the portal. Demons used whatever skills they had to attack the Diye, but it served to bring the creature's attention to them. Soon, they too were fighting a losing battle against the inexorable pull of the portal. A cacophony of gunfire, demon screams and the creature's chant filled the air till Buffy held her hands over her ears, trying to shut out the unrelenting buffeting noise.

All of a sudden, an unearthly quiet settled on the annex. Buffy slowly pulled her hands down from her ears to see what had happened. Distracted by the sudden change, she was knocked off her feet by a retreating soldier. With a grunt, she felt her chin slam against the concrete as she landed on her stomach. Pulling in her arms to brace herself, she pushed up from the floor as she looked toward the portal. There, in front of the portal, was a silhouette of a man standing there with his head down. The demons ceased to be pulled toward the portal. The chant is no longer hanging in the air. Everyone's eyes are trained on the lone figure.

Buffy focused her eyes against the bright light coming from the portal to look at the figure standing there challenging the Diye creature.

It was Spike.


	27. Chapter 27

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine.

Authors note: Please bear with me! Previous version had some grammar issues. Hey, it is hard to write action in the past tense. I have great hopes for the next chapter.

…...

Chapter 27

As she stumbled to a halt, Buffy could barely discern the outline of Spike standing in front the portal as the brilliant light made her eyes water. The air became deadly quiet as the harrowing chant that had filled the area suddenly ceased and all eyes of the occupants in the annex turned toward the figure. Sensing the break in the tension, the remaining demons began to scramble in an effort to escape the creature. Not caring what or who they had to clamber over, they scattered over the area tearing doors from their hinges in the frenzy to get away. As the demons fled, the remaining soldiers regrouped to consider a new strategy to deal with this new ominous threat. Standing motionless, Buffy could just hear the sound of what sounded to be commands being gruffly given to the soldiers who were huddled behind a rather large transport parked there. Finally shaking off some of her stupor, Buffy staggered over to a railing, leaning against it for support. She blinked her eyes to clear them, as she watched the lone vampire challenge the creature.

Spike seemed to be severely outmatched by the sheer size of the giant figure as he stood there. It was an unearthly sight as the two opponents faced off. The ragged edges of the portal were continuously moving like a living being itself as it poured an eerily brilliant light into the room. The edges floated around the vampire, like a jellyfish trying to capture its prey in its tendrils. The Diye creature loomed in the center of the portal, its metallic skin casting disturbingly bright flashes of eye piercing light. Yet, Spike continued to stand there undeterred. There was an element of strength and defiance about his stance as he braved the creature. There was a sense of energy coming away from the man, yet he appeared to be as still as a statue.

Diye leaned forward to measure his opponent as he leaned to regard Spike. The creature began to extend what would be called an appendage toward Spike. Buffy noticed the sound of Spike's voice, low and soft but cutting through the air. He was speaking, but it wasn't English. It was in a language that sounded older and exotic. She strained to make out the words. She noticed a warm glow began to emanate from Spike. It began to become a deeper color and a hum accompanied Spike's voice. Buffy felt something; the ring was vibrating on her finger. She brought up her hand and held it at her waist cupping it in her right. A vibration crawled up her hand as the stone in the ring flashed at her. The power of the ring responded to Spike's call.

The Diye creature began to pull back from Spike. Spike reached forward with his left hand, as Buffy began to see a glowing ball of energy form in it. The creature roared at Spike through the portal, but it seemed to have no effect on the vampire who stood resolute in his action. Buffy held her breath as Spike seemed to be pushing the creature back. The creature strained at the force that Spike was exerting. To Buffy's relief, it appeared that Spike was defeating the creature and closing the portal.

Suddenly a military rocket flew overhead and exploded at the portal. The violent explosion did not penetrate the portal, so all the backlash of the attack was thrown back upon Spike. Buffy watched as Spike's body was cast away like a discarded doll. Landing with a hollow thump that made her cringe, Buffy saw Spike lying dazed on the floor. Buffy dashed toward him as she bounded over debris that lay between her and her vampire. When she reached him, she went on her knees as she picked up his head.

"Spike?" Buffy entreated as she brushed her thumbs over his cheekbones.

While Buffy knelt next to Spike, the soldiers moved forward into positions to attack the creature. The sound of rocket explosions and gunfire filled the building as the humans continued their assault against the creature. Teams of soldiers moved to flank the creature, firing rapidly in a concerted effort. The Initiative brought out their most advanced weapons developed to control the demon populace. Electrical weapons created a sparking network of electricity over the surface portal. But for all their effort, their attempts to subdue the creature turned out to be futile. All the destructive power was deflected by the surface of the portal and thrown back upon the soldiers without affecting the creature. The creature began to chant once again, ignoring the meager barrage from the humans. The Diye appeared fixated in looking for its opponent, Spike. It was then that chant began anew to draw his adversary to him.

As the chant swam out into the annex, Buffy could feel the pull now herself as the Slayer in her responded to the call. She fastened her hands to Spike's arms and urgently shook him.

"Spike! We gotta get out of here!" Buffy pleaded with the vampire who was beginning to open his eyes. Moving behind him, she placed her hands under his arms and began to pull up. Grunting with exertion, she managed to get him propped up on his feet into a standing position. Dazed, Spike's head bobbed on his shoulders as he reached a wavering hand back toward her.

On the far end of the annex, the soldiers were continuing their hopeless fight against the Diye. The creature scanned the area and issued a roar of challenge. In the next instant, the creature suddenly ripped through the surface of the portal as an arm was thrust through the barrier. The arm stayed there for a moment, slowly turning and giving off an earthly shine. Then, it suddenly jammed its fist downward through the portal into the ground. As it did the ground seemed to evaporate around the fist, it crumbled into nothingness. The vortex created by the creature began to draw all that surrounded it into blackness. Buffy heard the shouts and screams of the nearby soldiers as they were drawn toward it. The remaining troops retreated, rushing through the exits. Soon, only Spike and Buffy were remaining in the annex.

As soon as the creature's arm broke through the barrier, Spike's eyes flew open. His eyes were a brilliant blue, so bright that light seemed to pour out of him. He straightened up so quickly that Buffy nearly toppled over with the momentum. He stood there staring at the vortex and then up to the creature. Then with bold strides, Spike moved passed Buffy as he began to approach the portal again. Desperately catching his arm in both of her hands, Buffy sought to stop him.

"Spike, you don't have to do this." She pleaded as she placed her hand on his arm and tried to pull him toward the door.

"Problem is, pet, there's nobody else. This is an old family feud that needs to be put to rest. I've been owing this wanker a good clobbering for a long time now." Spike said as briefly pulled his eyes away from the portal. He stopped for a moment as he looked at her. His hand came up to smooth a hair away from her cheek. Then breaking his fascination, he pushed her toward the door, calling. "Go on! Get yourself outta of here!"

In the next instant, the creature pulled his arm from the vortex which immediately disappeared. Before Spike can turn around, the creature has extended his arm toward Spike. Dark and metallic motes seemed to fall from the creatures arm. They floated over the surface of the floor directly toward Spike, like a tide coming into shore.

The mass of dark wispy energy enveloped Spike, causing his body to become immobile. It felt like a million tiny spiders were wrapping him up in unbreakable diamond threads. Struggling to break free, Spike wrestled against the magical bonds covering his body but to no avail. He felt the spiders begin to cover his head with their tightening webbing, sealing his jaw shut. Inside, his demon was screaming, as Spike fought to listen to what the blood was telling him. As he struggled, he could now feel the creature's inexorable pull drawing him ever closer. He tried once again to fight the panic inside him and tried to concentrate on the blood. He raged against the impending doom facing him as the lights began to flash in front of his eyes. In his head, he thought of all the people he had failed: his father, his grandfather, his aunt, Buffy, the Scoobies…well, he really didn't mind so much about the Scoobies, come to think of it. Spike was so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he didn't hear the small boots stamping up from behind him.

Spike suddenly felt two small arms wrapping themselves around his midsection, stopping his progression toward the portal. He found himself flung back to the floor, breaking down the control of the creature on the magic. Looking up, he was surprised to see a breathless Buffy standing there looking at him. Without the creature's control, Spike was able to slowly remove the magical spider web that was covering him.

"Spike!" Buffy called out as she felt her body become immobilized by the creature's motes.

The creature sent out another mass of the spider like motes this time toward Buffy. Staggering, Buffy felt her body being slowly drawn toward the portal and the creature. Seeing Buffy in danger, Spike increased his struggle to break free of the creature's magic. He tried desperately to get a hand free, so he could stop Buffy's progression. With panic in his eyes, he saw that Buffy was almost at the portal.

Suddenly, a dart of crooked wood shot through the air at the creature. It cut across the surface of the creatures arm leaving a glowing gash. In response, the creature flinched and lost its control on Buffy. Without the momentum of creature's pull, Buffy pitched forward and fell to the floor.

Giles and Willow are standing at the entrance of the annex with crossbows in their hands. Behind them are Anya and Xander who led them down through the access tunnel. The holly that Rupert and Willow have fashioned into crossbow darts hurt the creature, driving it back. Motioning to the other three to spread out, Giles charged forward to shoot another bolt toward the creature. Running over and leaning on a crate, Willow aimed her crossbow at the creature. Suddenly, the air is filled with the sound of crossbows as the darts zip toward the creature. Pulling back with a roar, the creature began to pull his arm back through the portal. At the last moment, he extended his arm toward Buffy who was still struggling to break free from the thread like bonds.

"Everyone! Aim for the portal!" Giles yells to the Scoobies. "We must force him back before he pulls Buffy in!"

As Buffy was being dragged across the last few feet of the floor, she could feel the light from the portal pouring down all around her. Pulling at the bonds and wriggling to slow her progress, she was still unable to break the bonds. She suddenly felt two strong hands on her body, stopping her progression. Spike had run over and put himself in between her and the portal. Smoothing away the magical bonds, he brought her to her feet and flung her away from the portal to safety.

Spike turned to confront the creature who had now been driven back inside the portal. As he turned, a misfired dart hit him in the chest. He looked down at the dart that was sticking out of his chest near his heart. His face wrinkled in curiosity as he regarded the dart sticking out of his chest. Lifting his head, he looked over to Buffy just before he was pulled into the portal.


	28. Chapter 28

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 28

As soon as Spike disappeared into the portal, it also closed leaving no trace in the fabric of space that it had ever existed. An eerily still silence settled over the annex. If it weren't for the evidence of the obvious destruction, it would have been easy to believe that the incident with the Diye Cagiriyor had not happened. Buffy was still lying on the floor where she had landed after being flung away from the portal by Spike. As she pushed her upper body up on her hands, she looked around the annex as she sat on the side of her hip. She pushed back to a sitting position, running a hand through her hair to push it back from her face.

The Scoobies lowered their crossbow, looking at each other in confusion at the sudden end to the conflict. Giles smoothly moved around the crates, moving his eyes from Buffy and where the portal had been. Dashing around the crates, Willow rushed by Giles to reach her friend. She set down her crossbow beside Buffy, before reaching to hold her friend's arms. She craned her neck to look into her friends eyes.

"Buffy! Are you alright?" Willow asked as she gripped her friend's upper arms.

"Uh, Yeah. I think so. What happened?" Buffy answered as her hand was still holding her hair back. Her face puzzled as she looked at her friend.

Giles walked up and stood over them and announced

"People, the portal is closed. I think it is a good time for us to return to my apartment."

"Okay." Buffy said as she looked from Giles over to Willow's encouraging nod and stood up.

Buffy looked around the annex, seemingly a little stunned. She hesitantly walked behind Giles with Willow at her side. As they got closer to where Xander and Anya were standing, Anya took a step toward Buffy.

"Buffy, what about Spike?" Anya urgently whispered as Buffy came toward her.

"What about him?" Buffy asked, tilting her head as she looked at Anya.

"We all just saw him... " Anya stopped as she felt Xander's hand on her shoulder.

"Anya, I don't think Spike is an issue any longer." Xander softly told the ex-demon.

"We don't know that." Anya argued over her shoulder.

"Maybe, we can talk about this later. " Willow asked, leaning around Buffy.

"But…" Anya whined as she turned her head to regard the spot where the portal had been.

"I think it is most important that we all get out here. Now." Giles informed the group.

Anya looked down in submission to the group's intent as she unhappily dropped her argument. Xander pulled her along as she regretfully left the annex. Her forehead was wrinkled as she kept stealing glances at Buffy who seemed to be confused. Anya drug her feet as she followed the group out of the Initiative.

"Come on, Buffy." Willow said as she escorted her friend over to the doors.

Turning to look once more at the annex, Buffy scanned the area as if looking for something. She then shrugged her shoulder before turning to follow the rest of the Scoobies out of the Initiative.

…

A little over twelve minutes later, the Scoobies trudged through Giles' front door. They were all clearly exhausted as the crossbows and bags of darts were haphazardly stacked on the end of the dining room table. A few feet inside the door, Buffy took a step to the side as she watched the rest of the Scoobies move into the room. Willow quietly went to sit on the end of the sofa, placing her elbow on the armrest and laying her head against her hand. Xander went over to the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator, looking for a drink. Not finding anything to his liking, he closed the door with a disgruntled sound and leaned against the kitchen entry. Anya pulled out a dining room chair on the far side of the table and sullenly sat in it with her arms crossed as she stared at the room. Giles stood over at the bookcase staring at the titles of the books. He pulled off his glasses to clean them, but stopped midway, the cloth still wrapped around the lens between his fingers. Buffy continued to awkwardly stand inside the door, after a few moments she gingerly approached the back of the sofa.

"So, anyone want to tell me what went on tonight?" She asked the group.

Everyone's heads swiveled to look at Buffy with a surprised look on their faces. Willow twisted on the couch to regard her friend. With her mouth open, Willow gasped as she turned toward her friend.

"Buffy, you don't remember?" Willow asked her eyes wide as she moved down the couch.

"I think if I did, I wouldn't be asking." Buffy responded with her hands upraised.

"You really don't remember all that stuff with Spike?" Xander asked as he came in from the kitchen.

"Where is Spike?" Buffy asked as she looked around the apartment. "Did he escape again?"

"Buffy, what do you remember?" Giles asked as he put on his glasses as he gave Buffy a cautious glance as he approached her.

"Well, the last thing I remember is that we were all at the table looking at my ring." Buffy said, indicating the table with her head.

"You don't remember anything else?" Anya asked, incredulously as she came around the table.

"Nope. All I know is that I am suddenly sitting on the floor of some military complex that had obviously seen some action." Buffy said as she shrugged. "Someone want to give me the highlights?"

Anya came up beside Buffy and placed her hand on her arm.

"You really don't remember that you were engaged?" Anya asked as she looked into Buffy's face.

"Hello, Willow's spell was last night. I am still trying to get over it." Buffy rolled her eyes as she turned away.

"No, Buffy. Willow's spell was two nights ago." Anya stated as she pulled Buffy back to face her. "You thought you were engaged to Spike again."

"What? Hey, I can take a joke as good as anybody but this is getting redundant." Buffy uneasily chuckled as she worriedly looked around the room.

"Buffy." Giles said as he came forward. "You honestly have no memory of what happened this evening after we looked at your ring."

"Sorry, nothing, zilch, nada." Buffy said as she shook her head.

"Uh, Buffy, I promise you that it wasn't me. Somehow, you thought you were still engaged to Spike. Willow confessed begrudgingly. "And you're gonna hate this…but you were a kinda clingy girlfriend."

"OH, NO! You don't mean… Eew! Clingy with Spike? Eew! Wait a minute! He wasn't clingy back, was he?" Buffy sputtered

"Oh, no. He was appropriately shocked by your behavior." Willow tried to comfort her friend as she reached to pat her arm.

"Yeah, he was flinging himself around the room to get away from you" Xander added, in an effort to help.

"Flinging? There was flinging involved? Why didn't someone stop me?" Buffy wailed as she looked wildly at the rest of the Scoobies.

"Well, Spike tried, but every time he tried to stop you, his chip went off. Giles said just to let you have your way." Anya said, with a smile and nodding to the affirmative.

"My way! Please tell me I didn't have my way with Spike." Buffy groaned with her head in her hands

"Don't worry. Spike was emphatic that you had to wait till you were married." Anya stated. "Who knew vampires could be so old fashioned."

"Wait, Spike was emphatic! That means I must have been… Ooh, I... I wasn't chasing him around the sofa, was I?" Buffy stammered, grimacing at the thought of what she would be told next.

"Oh, there was just some minor wrestling involved, nothing too intense." Willow offered, as she sat back against the back cushion of the sofa.

"Ooh, I am getting nauseous. I would think my friends would have tried harder to stop me. Don't we still have some of those tranquilizer darts around here?" With her hand on her stomach, Buffy demanded as she looked pointedly at Xander.

"Well, we tried. But, you got that whole slayer strength thing and...and, you were so happy." Willow explained. "It was good to see you in a committed relationship."

"I think the word 'committed' is the optimal word here. As in I should have been." Buffy moaned with a pained expression

"I thought you two were cute together." Anya said as she walked away from Buffy and sat down on the sofa. "I swear I could pick up something going on between the two of you."

"Again with the 'Eew!'." Buffy groaned, wincing.

"Buffy, there were other issues involved besides your love life. We had that Diye Cagiriyor creature to deal with. The ring that Spike gave you seemed to have some power to combat it." Giles calmly stated as he looked at the upset slayer.

"Again, Spike has the unique ability to mess with my life…even when he helps me." Buffy announced with a shake of her head as she looked at the ceiling.

"Wait a minute, Buffy." Willow interjected. "It isn't Spike's fault. He didn't know about the ring."

"Actually, Buffy, it is quite beneficial that Spike gave you that ring." Giles lectured the distraught slayer.

"Why?" Buffy grumbled as she pulled her eyes away from the ceiling and looked at Giles.

"Well, it wouldn't be in our possession now." Giles responded, detailing the facts for the slayer.

"So that brings me back to my question of where is Spike. I still haven't got an answer on that. And what were we doing in that military complex? I am assuming that was the Initiative, right?" Buffy asked again, this time letting the exasperation creep into her voice.

"Buffy, Spike was recaptured by the Initiative. During our rescue attempt, the Diye Cagiriyor creature appeared and attacked. As a result of rescuing you, Spike was sucked into the portal by the creature. The portal closed almost immediately after that." Giles responded, listing the facts in a no nonsense manner.

"Spike rescued me?" Buffy gasped and looked stunned. Blinking in surprise, she added. "Wow, I didn't see that coming. So, now what?"

"I really don't know. We're dealing with something far outside our realm. Spike seemed to know something about it, but now that he's gone…." Giles muttered as he became lost in thought.

"Wait the ring! Buffy still has it." Willow jumped forward in her seat as she turned toward Buffy. "Maybe it's the key to defeating the creature!"

"Yes, it did seem to deflect the creature before." Giles affirmed as he pointed at Willow.

Buffy brought up her hand to look at the ring on her finger. She turned her head slightly as she regarded it. Instead of the deep blood red of the stone, it was now a dark black. Where the stone had given off a warm glow, the stone now seemed to be dead. She had a brief distinct feeling of sadness creep over her for an instant as she looked at it.

Giles took Buffy's hand and guided her to the end of the dining room table. Pulling a lamp over, so he could see the ring clearly. He turned Buffy's hand so he could look at the ring at all angles. Finally tiring of having her hand twisted, she pulled it back.

"Oh, here!" Buffy groused as she pulled the ring from her finger she placed the ring in Giles hand, so he could inspect it. The watcher immediately began to study the ring under the light.

"Buffy." Anya whispered as she leaned over to Buffy.

"What?" Buffy asked, clearly irritated.

"You wouldn't let that ring off your finger before. Do you think…?" Anya said sheepishly.

"Think what?" Buffy sighed, waiting for the ex-demon to continue.

"Do you think Spike is dead?" Anya muttered under her breath.

"I..I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. Nah, it's just a ring." Buffy muttered. "Doesn't mean anything." Despite her talk, her eyes didn't leave the ring.

"There is definitely a color change. I can just barely see the top of the inscription I saw before. The stone is definitely obscuring the rest of the inscription." Giles detailed his inspection of the ring. "I'll take it over to the jewelers tomorrow, perhaps they can see something." He placed the ring on a napkin on the table.

As Buffy looked over at the ring, a feeling of loss began to slowly build up in her. She stared down at her ring finger that felt strangely naked. She hadn't realized that she had become accustomed to the weight of the ring on her hand.

"It is late everyone. I think we should all go home and go to bed." Giles announced to the group.

Buffy was the last to leave. She hung back from the group as everyone gathered their coats and filed out the door.

"I'll lock the door on my way out. Okay, Giles?" She called out to the watcher.

"That would be excellent. Thank you, Buffy." Giles responded from the kitchen.

Just as Buffy was closing the door, her eyes landed on the ring sitting on the dining room table. Instinctively, she dashed over and grabbed the ring. Clutching it tightly in her hand before she went out the door.

As the Scoobies broke off at the street to go to their various home, Buffy and Willow walked together quietly as they made their way back to their dorm room. Buffy could feel the bulky ring in the palm of her hand. She didn't know why she had grabbed the ring. It really didn't make any sense, but she could not leave it behind.

"Buffy. Are you okay?" Willow asked as she swung her arms as she turned to regard Buffy.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Buffy said, shaking her head as she added. "Just still a little freaked out about what you guys told me what's been going on with Spike and me."

"Well, look at it this way…Maybe you have insight you didn't know you had." Willow responded. She raised her hands as she continued her justification. "Spike surprised us all, you know, with hidden depths kinda thing."

"I think I like my guys in the shallow end, if you don't mind. I don't need anymore surprises in my life." Buffy muttered as she looked away.

"Yeah, I forgot about Riley. He's very toothsome in a bland...I mean stable kind of way." Willow grimaced at her faux pas and looked over at her friend's face to see if she had noticed. Seeing no reaction from Buffy, Willow let out a sigh of relief.

Buffy could not break out of the funk she found herself in since she left the Initiative. If she didn't know any better, she would think her heart was breaking. Her logical mind reasoned that it must be a remnant of the spell she had been under. Still, her heart was calling for something. As much as she didn't want to name it...it wanted Spike. Buffy stopped as she could feel heat generating in the palm of her hand that was holding the ring.

She brought her hand up and opened her fist to see the ring. The stone of the ring was still black but there was something going on. As she stared at it, she could see the inscription behind the stone begin to glow. The letters stood out as if they were carved out of fire. The fire seemed to spread to air as it began swirl and became larger. The swirling fire soon spread beyond her hand and completely engulfed Buffy.

Willow had only taken two steps further when she became aware that Buffy had stopped. She turned to see what the matter was.

"Buffy?"

Looking around for her friend, Willow realized that she was alone.


	29. Chapter 29

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 29

"Hey, Willow! What did the weatherman say the weather was going to be tonight?" Buffy called out against the thunderous golden squall that surrounded her.

When the rushing turbulence finally dissipated, Buffy caught herself as she staggered against the sudden change. Blinking her watery eyes, she looked down to see that the edges of her shoes were obscured by about an inch of sand. That's funny, she thought, she wasn't at the beach. She froze, and clinched her eyes shut as she slowly brought her head up, almost dreading to what she would see. Wincing, she dared to open one eye to peak out where she was. Okay, that's totally weird, she thought. She closed it again and then opened the other eye to see if the view improved. She quickly shut that eye as well. Taking a deep breath, she stood there with both eyes closed for a moment to consider the situation she found herself in

"Okay, Buffy. You're obviously experiencing some kind of hallucination. There were lots of drugs in the Initiative. You could have easily gotten jabbed with a needle during all the business." Buffy muttered. "In a moment, you're going to open your eyes and see your friend Willow standing on the sidewalk waiting for you. Okay? One, two, three… "Buffy opened both eyes and calmly took in the scene in front of her.

"Oh, crap!" she groaned as she flung up her hand in frustration.

She saw she was standing in the middle of a long hallway sided on each side with towering tan colored stone walls. She quickly turned about in a wildly spinning circle as she looked all around her. Finally stopping, she craned her neck to see if she could see anything down the hallway but did not see anything but more sand and stone. She slowly looked up to see that the walls were made immense fitted cut stones that seemed to extend beyond her line of sight into a white murky haze. Looking back down, she huffed as she crossed her arms in front of her to think. As her arms were folded over her chest, she noticed her fist was still wrapped around the ring. She opened her hand and brought it up to her face. As she looked at the red stone ring lying so innocuous in her pale hand, she tilted her head in contemplation.

"Are you the reason for all this trouble?" She asked the ring, as if expecting an answer.

She jumped when she heard the sound of motion down the hallway. Without thinking, she dropped her hand and shoved the ring into the front pocket of her pants as she began to follow the sound.

"Hello? Anyone there? " She called as she rambled down the hallway toward the sound.

She prayed that she wasn't making a bad decision here as she moved quickly down the endless hallway. The sound continued to beckon her forward, but always staying just ahead of her. Finally, out of breath, she blundered into a large room. In the center of the room there was a large pool of water appearing in the middle of the floor. On the other side of the pool, a figure stood draped in a large cloak, so neither face or hands could be seen.

"Oh! Hello." Buffy gulped as she stared at the figure which made no gesture of acknowledging the slayer. Rolling her eyes, she added. "So, do you guys put on the Christmas Carol every year?"

There was no reaction from the cloaked figure to her jibe. It stood solemnly on the other side of the pool, not moving or speaking. Buffy wrinkled her face as she stared at the enigmatic form and let out a little sigh of annoyance.

"Okay, you got me here. What do you want?" Buffy stated, placing her hands on her hips.

Then slowly, the figure lifted its arm and pointed to the pool.

"You want me to look in the pool? Okay, I guess." Buffy shuffled her feet as she began to hesitantly get closer to the pool. "But if something grabs me, I'm knocking you out!" She warned, pointing her finger at the figure.

She looked quickly at the figure on the other side that hadn't moved. Swallowing uncomfortably, she looked down in the water as she put her hands on her knees and knelt over the pool. She could see nothing in the dark water of the pool when she first peered into it. She raised her eyes at the figure briefly before sighing and looking back down.

"Okaaay, I'm looking. What exactly am I supposed to see?" Buffy groused with an irritated sigh.

As she looked into the darkness, she could begin to see the bare outline of a man lying unconscious. It was as if she was looking down from a great height. At the murkiness began to recede, she could begin to make out details. It wasn't until she saw the light bounce off the platinum hair that she recognized who it was.

"Spike!" Buffy called out.

…..

As he came to, Spike didn't know how long he had been lying there. Spike felt his body floating as if suspended on a slow current of water. Everything around him felt rather insubstantial; there was feeling of drifting that he was in no hurry to disrupt. He found that the idea of lying there on his back with no ambition of moving quite tempting. He was brought out of his daze by a flash of excruciating pain emanating from his chest. He brought up his fumbling hand to the location of the pain in the center of his chest. He blinked when his hand finally found the source of the pain. He lay there as he let his hand transmit the information about the source of the pain. His fingers wound around an object sticking out of him. It was a thin knobby...reed?

He lifted his head to look at what was in his hand. A groan escaped him as he recognized what it was. It was one of those bloody darts the Scooby gits were shooting all over the place. Wouldn't you know someone would get hurt, that someone would usually be him. He grumbled under his breath as he wrapped his hand around the shaft of the dart to extract it. Holding his breath, he pulled at the dart. Nothing happened. He gave it another good series of tugs...still it did not move. Resettling his shoulders and gritting his teeth, he repositioned his fingers for one tremendous effort to remove the dart. He threw all his vampire strength behind the attempt. For several minutes, he fought against the pain in his determined effort to yank the intrusive projectile from his body. Finally, panting with exertion, he surrendered to the idea that the small arrow would not budge from his chest.

"Buggar." He spat as he pulled his mouth into a thin line.

Planting his hands behind him, he pushed up to a sitting position and looked down at the arrow. It must be caught on a bone. It was just millimeters away from his heart. If he had a bloody knife, he could have cut it out of him…oh well, if wishes were horses… Rubbing his forehead, he decided that he would just have to make do with the damnable thing sticking in him.

Spike lifted his head and looked around the strange landscape around him to see where he was. He quickly remembered the last thing that happened in the Initiative. He glanced around quickly, hoping not to see Buffy. He didn't see her, in fact, he didn't see anyone. Good, he thought, the Slayer was safe. He turned and pushed up to his feet. He stood up, brushing his hands as he decided that it was time to get on with it. With all the swagger he could muster, he leaned back and yelled.

"Come on out, you bloody poofter! Let's see how you dance!"

…

"Spike! Spike!" Buffy yelled at the water as she fell to her knees beside it. She watched him wake and slowly move. "Can you hear me? It's me, Buffy! Spike!"

When she didn't see him respond, she knew he couldn't hear her. She watched him wrestle with the arrow in his chest. Frantically, Buffy plunged her hands into the water to try to reach him, but only disrupt the scene in the water. She sat back and pulled her hands back into her lap as she impatiently waited the water to still.

"I can't reach him!" She moaned as her shoulders fell in defeat, placing her forehead in her hand. Suddenly, her head whipped up and she glared at the figure across the pool.

"Is this what you want me to see? I don't understand! Why go to all the trouble to bring me here if I can't do anything?" She snapped as anger filled her eyes. "All I can do is sit here and watch Spike get destroyed. Why? To what purpose?"

The figure did not respond, but continued to stand like a statue on the other side of the pool. Buffy looked up and felt her emotions begin to overwhelm her, as she let out a huge sigh of anguish. She slowly shook her head as her eyes tickled with tears. Bringing up the back of her hand, she wiped the beginning of a tear that was about to fall from her eye. As she did that, she looked back down and her eyes fell back to the pool. She saw Spike resign himself to the state of the arrow sticking out of his chest and determinedly pull himself to his feet. A small smile pulled at the corner of her mouth as she saw him pull all his old arrogance in stance. She could see him lean back and puff out his chest. She heard him yell the taunt toward his opponent to make an appearance.

She sat there for a moment staring at Spike, knowing that she might soon be witnessing his death. It seemed to cause an ache in her right down to the middle of her bones. Becoming aware of the turmoil going on inside her, she began to examine her feelings about Spike. Why was she getting so upset? It was just Spike. Giving herself a little shake, she thought that she was getting too carried away. It was the whole big dramatic scene getting to her. She needed to reaffirm her parameters about how she felt about Spike.

"Get a hold of yourself, Buffy. You're the Slayer and he's just a dumb vampire." Buffy lectured herself as she wrapped her arms around her body. "It's not like you really care."

The figure reached up and pulled the head back from the cloak. It revealed a thirtyish looking woman with long dark blonde hair pulled back in a Victorian hairstyle.

"No, I believe you do care." Aunt Charlotte responded. "You care quite a bit."


	30. Chapter 30

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 30

"Huh?"

The sand shifted slightly under her knees as Buffy abruptly jerked her head up to see where the voice had originated. Her eyes instantly drying from her small display of emotion as they landed on the mature looking woman coolly standing across the pool. Buffy's face wrinkled in suspicion as she regarded the woman calmly standing across from her.

"You're.. you're a person. Not a demon?" she sputtered, bracing her hands on her knees to brace against the unusual circumstances unfolding around her.

"Yes. I believe that is quite apparent. Are you alright, child?." The woman in the cloak responded, looking at her with an air of steady patience.

Still trying to recover from her shock, Buffy's eyes traveled over the woman starting with the cloak pooled up at her feet and all the way up to the tiny braids that lay on top of her head that were wound around a large bun at the nape of her neck. With a slight frown, she carefully measured the woman appearance as to detect her intent. As far as she could tell the woman looked like an ordinary human except for the dreadfully out of date hairstyle and some questionable fashion choices. She pondered exactly why she had encountered this woman in such an extraordinary setting. Observing the perceptive gaze of the woman, Buffy did not exactly feel threatened; but instead felt slightly intimated. She had that uneasy feeling that you have when your name is unexpectedly called by the teacher for talking in class, something that Buffy was very familiar with. It was a feeling that she did not like to experience, especially now when there were other ongoing events that should take precedence. In such instances, Buffy brought her usual tactic of deflecting the attention back to her opponent. Clearing her throat, she sat forward to take things in hand.

"Um…Hi. Would you mind telling me what's going on?" Buffy asked, trying hard to keep the nervous quiver out of her voice.

"My dear girl, I would think that would be obvious." The woman in the cloak calmly responded.

"Excuse me, but I'm a little confused here. So, could you make with the explanations? Like how did I get here? What is this place? Who are you? Why can I see Spike in the pool?" Buffy paused and glared at the woman's outfit. "And by the way, what's with the whole Grim Reaper outfit? Or did I manage to land in a Def Leppard video?"

"Grim Reaper? Leopards? My, you do speak…colorfully." The woman replied, tilting her head. "It was of the utmost importance that you look in the pool. How else was I to get you to look in the pool without launching into a lengthy conversation?"

Buffy looked upwards as she twisted her mouth to the side, tapping her fingers against her knees. "Oh, I don't know… How about 'Hey, please look in the pool!'. Ever hear of that one?" Buffy did little to contain her sarcasm. "You got a really dysfunctional way of communicating, lady!"

"You're singularly abrupt." The oddly dressed woman sighed as she looked down to smooth the front of the cape and then lifted her head to regard the slayer. "I had hoped my nephew, William would have found an appropriate girl of class and breeding. Oh, well, he has always been given to recklessness. He favors his parents in that aspect, they always got so carried away in the moment. I fear he gives too much credence to his heart, and not his head."

"Okay, you lost me. Who are we talking about?" Buffy looked confused as she gave her a head a little shake. "William who?"

"William is my nephew." The woman answered, tiredly.

"Yeah, I got that part but that doesn't seem to clear anything up for me." The Slayer screwed up her face and shrugged her shoulders.

"William…" The woman paused, waiting for a reaction from Buffy. Upon seeing none, she then continued. "You were just watching him."

"I was watching..you mean…Spike?" Buffy said slowly as she tried to sit back on her heels but missed and fell over ungainly over on the side of her hip onto the sand. Her jaw dropped as she stared over at the woman across the pool and blurted. "That's right. I forgot Spike's name is William. You're Spike's aunt! Wow! You gotta be really old!"

"Hmm. Yes. I am William's Aunt Charlotte." Leaning her head forward, she asked. "And your name would be?"

"Oh, I'm Buffy. Err…I mean Elizabeth." Buffy responded as her mind was reeling as she tried to regain her balance physically and mentally. "No, wait. No, just call me Buffy. Everyone does."

"I think it's is a blessing you're so lovely." Aunt Charlotte stated as she looked at the slayer across the pool. "I suggest that you try to capitalize on that. It would draw attention from your education and manners."

Buffy's forehead wrinkled as the woman's statement sank through her skull.. The sting of the statement finally settling in, she pulled in her lips and scowled. "Now, I believe it! You have to be related to Spike. You managed to go from oddly perverse to really irritating in one minute or less." she muttered. Taking a bracing breath, she asked. "So are you going to tell me why you brought me here?"

"I didn't bring you here. You did that all on your own." Aunt Charlotte stated as she folded her hands in front of her.

Holding up her hands in front of her, the Slayer shook her head in disbelief. "N..now, wait a minute. I did no such thing. I think I would have remembered something like that."

"My dear, your presence here is proof that you, and you alone, called upon the ring." The older woman smoothly replied.

"Grr! That stupid ring! I knew it! Wouldn't you know the first ring I get from a guy and it turns out to be some kind of science fiction thingy! Your family are actually aliens, aren't you? That explains so much about Spike." Buffy breathed through her teeth as she thrust her hand into the pocket on the front of her jeans. She enclosed the ring in her fist and jerked it out and angrily stared at her hand. The ring lay in her open palm, the dark stone lying inert. She thrust her hand toward the woman. "Tell it to take me back!"

"I don't understand you." Aunt Charlotte sighed. "The ring is only a servant of your desires."

"Huh? My who of a what?" Pulling her gaze back down to the ring, Buffy's face wrinkled with confusion.

"My dear, you must realize that you called on the power of the ring. How else do you explain why you're here."

"That's what I was asking you! Are you saying there's like a genie in this thing?" Buffy picked up the ring between her fingers and began to shake the ring as if she could shake the magical being out. "That would be really…neat! I mean, just think of all the fantastic shoes I could get!"

"Please. There is little time for this! There is no genie." Aunt Charlotte's sharp voice brought Buffy back to the conversation. "Your feelings for William are what brought you here."

"What…Huh? Oh, yeah. William.. I mean Spike. Sorry, I kinda got lost in a shoe version of candyland there for a second." Buffy raised her eyebrows as she shrugged apologetically. Then blinking, she asked. "You were saying something about feelings?"

"Yes, I said that your feelings for William brought you here."

Buffy gave an odd sounding guffaw at the statement. Holding her hand against her chest, she answered. "Hey. I don't know where you're getting that? Feelings? I don't have any feelings for Spike."

"You don't?" Aunt Charlotte raised her eyebrows at the last statement.

"Well, the feelings I do have are strictly lean more to irritation, if anything. Our chemistry is similar to a paper cut and lemon juice." Buffy paused to consider her feelings, she began to blather. "I mean Spike and I… Nah! I couldn't have… I mean.. Him and me, it's just …ICK!"

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much." Spike's aunt muttered as she shook her head.

"Hey, I'm okay with the protesting. And by the way, it's 'I think'. Complain about my education, will ya?" Buffy griped. "I, at least, speak English very good."

"Very well." The woman corrected.

"I am glad we agree upon something. Now, could you tell me how to get this ring to take me back?" Buffy said nodding and pointing to the ring.

"The ring will bow to your heart's desire. If you wish to leave this place, then by all means do." The older woman sighed.

"Okay, so I just have to tell the ring that I want to go back, right?" Buffy said slowly as she looked over to the woman with wide eyes.

"If that is indeed what your heart wants."

"Okay, Ring! Take me back to Sunnydale!" Buffy clinched her eyes shut and after a second, peeked out to see that she was still with Aunt Charlotte. "It didn't work."

"So, it appears." Aunt Charlotte replied, deadpan.

"Maybe, I don't know…I should put it on." Buffy stated with a grimace as she slid the ring onto her finger. Staring at the ring on her hand, she waited for a reaction. Seeing nothing, she sighed. "Okay. I don't feel any different."

Suddenly the ring began to glow a deep crimson. Holding it up in front of her, Buffy's eyes were drawn to the pool that lay beyond it again and the image of Spike wandering in the other dimension. Ignoring Aunt Charlotte, Buffy leaned once again over the pool.

…..

During the time that Buffy had conversing with his aunt, the atmosphere had thickened around Spike as he swaggered along looking for the creature. A fog rolled up as he marched through the strange dark landscape slowing his progress and any search for the creature. It swirled in colors of pink against the dark muddled background. Spike was getting increasingly frustrated as he peered around him looking for the entity.

"Spike! Spike!" an insistent and strangely familiar female voice cut straight to his ears.

"Bu..Buffy?" Spike stammered as he looked around in the swirls of fog. He spun around, looking wildly around for the Slayer.

"Yes, it's me!" Buffy's voice carried a note of triumph.

"Are you here, luv? Did you get sucked in here too?" Spike narrowed his eyes as he peered into the distance.

"No, I am not there." Buffy replied

"Where are you?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned his head right to left, looking for the slayer.

"Well, that's where it kinda gets interesting. I am using some kind of interstellar intercom system."

"Oh, how did you manage that? Did Willow and Giles mange to rig something up?" Spike's brow wrinkled as he continued to walk.

"No. They didn't. Um. You see. Funny thing happened." Buffy's voice broke as she began to breathe a nervous laugh.

"I'm kinda busy now, pet. You just better tell me. Just get it over, quick and proper." Spike said, disregarding the unease in Buffy's voice.

"Okay…Um, I am kinda standing here with your Aunt Charlotte."

Spike suddenly froze in his tracks, his eyes widened, his lip pulled in as he held his breath. All swaggering pretense fell from him and his face took on a look of fright.

"Hey, what's with the face?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 31

You gotta be bleedin kidding me! Spike thought.

As Buffy's last statement sunk into his head, Spike turned his eyes upward to the reddening sky as he brought up his hands. Then he let his hands fell to his sides as his head slumped forward, shaking his head in disgust. Why? Was someone having a bit of fun with him? There are some things that just aren't right! His unlife had been seriously circling the drain ever since he had come back to Sunnydale. First, it was the boneheaded catastrophe with the Gem of Amara. Why didn't he just take the bloody thing when he found it and leave town? Oh No! He had to lord it over the slayer which got him his toasted ass served to him. That little escapade quickly led to another humiliating debacle in LA. Just once, he would like for at least one of his ventures to land jelly side up, he pleaded to anyone that was listening to his thoughts as he continued in his head. Next up, there was the Initiative pretty much de-fanging him, making him a laughing stock among the undead and demon community. It got so bad that he had to beg sanctuary from the slayer and her idiotic cohorts. Him! Spike! The only vampire to have single handedly kill two slayers! He should rightly strike terror in the inhabitants of Sunnydale. Since the chip, he was held no more of a threat than an out of sorts lap dog…maybe even less. Where's the justice? Now adding insult to injury, he has this whole family mission has landed squarely on his head. 'GOTTA FIGHT THE BIG SILVERY CHAP AND SAVE THE WORLD!' You know, you save the world once and everyone keeps expecting you to make it a habit. And as a cherry on top of this cake, he's has to hear that the slayer standing there watching the spectacle with his aunt. The fates couldn't be that cruel! Could they? They had never really been on his side. Roping him into this whole vortex sucking thing when he was just five years old, he was expected to clean this whole mess up which had been going on for generations. Talk about a bloody royal mess! Lord, he was the equivalent of an inter-dimensional janitor! It was bleeding pathetic how his afterlife was turning out. Yeah, that what it was! Buffy was there with Aunt Charlotte. That…that was just wrong! Maybe, he had misheard. Yeah, that was it…it couldn't be.

Wha…what? No, it can't be…" Spike stammered. His forehead wrinkled in worry as his voice carried a note of strained hope.

"You heard me! What's with the look of terror?" Buffy called out peevishly as her pointed finger bounced with each word. "If it was possible, I would say you went even paler!"

"You…you can see me?" Spike scowled and uttered as his eyes looked around the dusky horizon.

"Well, Duh." Buffy commented as she examined the vampire appearing in the pool before here. Then the realization hit home as Buffy slowly stated. "Are you scared of me hanging out with your Aunt?"

"Well, pet, you're not the daintiest of fainting maidens." Spike answered quickly, twisting his mouth to the side then pulling up his chin as he sniffed. There was no way that he was going to let Buffy know how disturbing he found the thought of the two women together.

"Spike, you're a pig!" Buffy retaliated. "I don't know why I am talking to you, if you're going to act that way! You could at least be happy to know that I am interested in your welfare."

"Maybe…It's my overwhelming joy that your dulcet tones managed to follow me here?" The vampire sniped, tilting his head in impudence.

"That's it! Just for that, I am going to ask if your aunt if she has any baby pictures of you!" the slayer responded emphatically.

The blonde vampire responded with a low grumble as he turned away and began walking again through the fog.

"Now, don't act that way. You know, you really are…" Buffy grumbled. Then her eyes went over to the woman in the cape and she added with a satisfied smile. "singularly abrupt!"

"Cripes! She's really there. You're together? In the same place?" Spike's face took on a hunted look as he recognized the term Buffy used. "Is she in Sunnydale? Or are you there?"

"By there, you mean this place? Yeah, it's like the most depressing day spa ever." Buffy responded with huff.

"Oh, Lord! And I thought the low point was going to be me being killed by this creature, I am thinking it might become the preferable option." Spike muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, don't look so horrified! It's not a cage match if that's what you're thinking." Buffy called out.

"Buffy, don't….It's just…that she isn't." Spike pulled his hand away from his neck as he looked up implored

"Isn't what?" the slayer suspiciously asked.

"Um... well, she's a lady, pet." Spike's hand went to rub his chin as he grimaced.

"And you're saying I'm not?"

"Uh. Uh. Um…Well."

"Right, don't be so quick with the denial business. I'm not a lady at all?" Buffy crossed her arms and rapped her fingertips against her elbows.

"Wait. I don't mean that way. It's just that my aunt is very proper." Spike hesitantly responded.

"You're on a slippery slope, buddy. I suggest you turn it around right now!" Buffy growled at the vampire.

"This isn't going at all well. What happened to battles to the death without the mind games?" Spike muttered under his breath. Pulling up his head, hoping to change the subject, he prompted. "You're kinda catching me at a bad time, luv. Might I suggest we reconvene when we're both in the same dimension? I am rather preoccupied at the moment, you know, fighting for my life and what not."

"Don't you think for a minute that I am going to let this drop, Spike. I know how to interact with people." Buffy argued as she leaned forward to make her point. "My mother did raise me properly, you know."

"Your mother is a lovely woman." Spike slowly admitted and then looked up. "But, you're different."

"Yes…Hey, what did you just say? I believe I am beginning to detect a family resemblance here." Buffy's mumbled as her eyes darted over to the woman in the cape. "What's with all this manners business anyway?"

"I was always a gentleman with your mother. I hope you would be the same with my family. The fact is, Buffy, you can be a bit forceful."

"So, that's a problem? Excuse me, but my profession doesn't allow me the luxury of being the Victorian ideal of proper womanhood! Thank God! Perhaps, we haven't met...I am the Slayer, you know." Looking over at the woman across the pond, she turned back to the address Spike. "And what's wrong with being forceful, you never seemed to complain."

"Nothing at all, it's just that my aunt is not accustomed to such coarse behavior. Perhaps you could tone it down from charging rhinoceros to the small furry mammal for her benefit."

"Look, I've already talked to your aunt and she has no problem with making the zingers. I can't believe that we're in this situation and all you want to talk about is my manners. Well, let me tell you something, Mister, I'm deep. I have many different levels. It's all there, just bubbling under the surface! You don't know how hard I can hit the ladylike thing! I'll hit it so hard, I'll leave a mark.

"Not quite the point, but I'm sure you can knock out any lady in society, pet."

"Darn right, I can." Buffy's face mouth fell open when she realized what she had just said. "Oh, Dang it! You make me so mad, Spike, I could just stake you! You know, when I woke up this morning, the last thing I thought I would encounter would be an etiquette quiz."

"Buffy, while you're reviewing the past few Miss Manner columns you've read; you don't happen to see an exit nearby?" Spike asked as he continued to look around him.

"What do you mean?"

"Believe it or not, I would really like to get out of here! I've finished the ten cent tour, had my picture taken, got the souvenir mug and now, I would really like to go home. I want to get started on boring all my friends with tales about my trip." Spike lifted a hand toward the horizon and continued. "If you would do the flight attendant thing and point out the nearest exit, I would be ever so grateful, pet."

"Now, you're asking me for favors! Don't think you are going to distract me from talking about this later." Buffy warned.

"Wouldn't expect anything else, pet." Spike responded. "Never mind, I'll find it myself."

As Spike began to walk forward, the fog began to get thicker and darker. The light pink began to become maroon as the fog became denser and started to climb up to his waist. He turned slightly as he raised his arms as he looked down at the fog as he continued forward. Suddenly, he stopped as he saw a figure up ahead. Bouncing on his toes and clinching his mouth closed, he charged at the figure.

"SPIKE! What are you doing?" Buffy called out as she watched the vampire launch himself at the figure.

"Little busy, luv!" Spike closed the distance as he pulled back a fist to strike the figure.

He stuck and was surprised to see his fist go through the figure that seemed to be made of smoke. He lost his balance with the momentum and stumbled a few feet before he could bring himself to a stop. He spun around to see that the figure had dissolved back into the pediment. Spike's face clouded with confusion as he spun around looking for the figure to reappear at any moment.

"Well, that was impressive! Not!" Buffy stated with a smirk in her voice.

"Do you see him? Did you see where he went?" Spike asked as he spun around looking for the figure.

"Yeah, I saw him melt away. Really, Spike, you need to not be so impulsive. If you're going to charging at any smoke figure that comes about, we're going to be here for an eternity."

"Well, what do you recommend, oh mighty slayer?" Spike slowly stopped spinning and placed his hands on his hips.

"Well, don't just start charging around like a lunatic! Think of a plan! Oh, sorry, that's not you're strong suit." Buffy said with a smirk on her face.

"Slayer, if you could manage to focus on the situation I'm facing, I think it would be more help. I am going to taking on a bleeding powerful creature with only my two hands."

"Well, look around! Maybe you could find a weapon? You know, like that space guy did."

"What space guy?" Spike looked totally baffled.

"It was that old TV show where that space guy that was fighting that lizard thing. You know, that TV show! He was able to build a canon to defeat the super strong lizard." Buffy prompted as she tried to unsuccessfully remember the name of the show.

"First of all, I can't even see beyond this irritating pink fog. Second, I am certain there are no bleedin foundries in the immediate area." Spike became more agitated as he spoke. "And third, when exactly did I land on Jeopardy and you became bloody Alex Trebek!"

"Just trying to help, you don't have to get unhinged. Really." Buffy replied, letting out an irritated sigh.

"You remember that...Uh oh." Spike looked around him as the reddish fog began to swirl and darken. "Looks like I am just about to get busy."

Suddenly surrounding him four figures rose up from the fog, followed by another four figures. The figures began to exponentially increase around him. He stood there stunned as he slowly turned taking in the figures that became clearer and more defined. Spike found himself in the center of large crowd.

At a sound, he glanced over his shoulder and there was Gustav. He was exactly like he remembered back in Krakow. Gustav's face was lowered, and then slowly he brought it up to look at Spike. He looked just like the last time when Spike saw him in Poland, just like when he, Spike, Dru and Karima had danced the night away together. Spike turned to look at him fully, as he did his elbow brushed the figure of Gustav and it dissolved before his eyes.

"What the bleedin hell?" Spike uttered as he took a step back and brushed another figure which also dissolved at his touch.

Spike staggered back also brushing against a figure that also dissolved. His eyes swam around him at the multitude of figures. He began to kick and swat at the figures. Issuing a whoop from his mouth as watching the outline scatter, Spike began to revel in the violence. Figure after figure, Spike smote each one; the clear enjoyment in reckless destruction soon gave way to dissatisfaction with the lack of challenge. Finally, coming to a stop, Spike puffed out his chest and raised up his arms.

"What are you waiting for, you Wanker?" He yelled at the top of his voice.

"Spike! Spike!" Buffy called out.

Spike did not respond. Aunt Charlotte stepped forward.

"The battle has begun. He can't hear you now." Aunt Charlotte intoned.

"What do you mean? Battle?" Buffy asked as she looked up urgently at the other woman and back to the pool.

"This event has been forthcoming for eons. It is now upon us." Aunt Charlotte pointed at the pool.

"What? What are you talking about? Spike in a momentous battle? Are you sure you got the right vampire?" Buffy asked exasperatedly.

"William is the end of long line of paladins. There is no other. He must succeed in defeating the creature. It is his destiny."

"I hate to tell you this, but do you have your money on the wrong horse! He's kinda bad on follow through. I can tell you from personal experience: big talk, little success! He couldn't even follow through on destroying the world." Buffy huffed.

"Yes, that tells you something about him doesn't it?" The woman cocked her head in a manner that reminded Buffy of the vampire. Maybe, they were related, she thought.

Buffy watched as Spike continued to cut a swath through the multitude of smoke figures. He quickly became dissatisfied as the figures offered little challenge. He came to a halt as he felt the whole situation had become ridiculous, he grumbled.

This has got to be the most bleedin idiotic…"

Spike stopped to look at one figure that appeared in front of him. There stood his grandfather, just as Spike remembered. Just as old and imperious as he remembered, just not quite as tall. Spike took an unsure step back at the figure. He sensed something behind him and turned.

His eyes widened as he stared at an almost a duplicate of himself standing there. Memories flooded Spike's mind of being smaller, looking up from where he sat on a carpet in front of the fire in the den, running through the garden looking back to the house, holding on to his nurse's hand as he ritually bid good night. The memories came surging back from a time where he all he knew was love and security. It threatened to topple his self control. Spike was shaken down to his very foundation as he stood there, holding his breath as his eyes swam over the figure.

"Papa?" he asked as almost a whisper.

The eyes of the figure opened and stared directly into Spike's eyes. Spike stood there mesmerized as he waited for a reaction. Suddenly, the figure of his father reached out and grabbed him by his throat. The hand closed with unearthly strength around his throat, pulling Spike forward. Still dazed, Spike put up his hands to pull the arm away from his throat to little effect. Buffy watched as the arm slowly turned silver it began to crush Spike's throat.


	32. Chapter 32

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 32

"Oh, my God! Do you see that? That's him, the creature! He's got Spike. We gotta do something!"

"It is out of our hands, now." Aunt Charlotte answered, solemnly.

"What kind of British stiff upper lip stuff do you have going on in your family?" Buffy asked, exasperated. Holding up an upraised palm at the woman, she asked. "How you just standing there?"

"What does it matter to you?" the older woman responded. Then tilting her head in oddly familiar fashion, she added. "I thought you didn't care about William?"

"I didn't say that and …wait. Now, we have to talk about feelings? Talk about your lousy timing!" Buffy griped. Waving her hand and pointing at the pool, she exclaimed. "Hello, bigger issues at stake! You know, like your nephew is going to be handed his ass!"

"That is beyond our control. You haven't answered my question. Why should you care about what happens to William?" Charlotte studied the girl before her as she began to press for an answer.

"I would love to have a sit down and a girl chat about my feelings and relationships, but there are other things going on right now!" Buffy sniped at the woman "There's gotta be something we can do!"

Barely able to keep still, she frantically looked back to the pool. The scene had not changed, Spike was still in danger. Buffy's head whipped around to glance around the room. As she did so, she happened to glance upon her hand and saw the ring sitting there.

"The ring! It brought me here. It worked on the creature before." Buffy started smacking the ring with the flat of her hand as she demanded. "Tell me how to turn the darn thing on!"

"Abusing the ring is fruitless. It will do no good." The woman stated as she held up her hand to halt Buffy's flurry of slapping and shaking the ring. "The ring will not respond."

"Well, then tell me how it DOES work!" The slayer urgently appealed, looking up from her hand. Buffy stared a moment at Charlotte for a response. When none came, she grumbled as she smoothed back her hair. "I am getting a little tired of the whole mysterious act. You could be a little more on the help-y side, you know."

"This is William's battle. I am afraid all you can do is watch."

….

Spike was frozen for a moment as the image of his father looked back at him. He could not tear his eyes away from the figure in front of him whose absence had created such a void in his early life. As a young boy, he had spent hours staring at the miniature painting of the man in front of him. He would pick up the frame from his mother's bedside table and study it, looking for any similarity between the handsome man in the picture and his plump childish features. Every once in a while, he would catch his mother looking at him and saw the pain of losing of his father in her eyes. It was an unreal experience to now see that same face from that small picture looking back with a dispassionate glare.

The sudden bracing chill of the hand closing around his windpipe barely brought Spike back to his present circumstance. He was so mired in surprise that his limbs floundered as he was abruptly pulled forward by the hand around his throat. Spike's eyes fastened on the alien and yet familiar face of his father in front of him. Like it or not, he was so overcome with long buried emotions, as he placed his hands on the arm holding his neck. It wasn't until he felt the smooth chill under his hands that caused him to pull his eyes away from the face. He saw the silver mirror like surface traveling up from the hand around his throat. It took a moment for him to realize he was only seeing an image of his father, not his father at all. He realized that the creature was using this apparition of his father against him. Spike realized he was under attack. Looking back up from the arm, Spike's eyes darted up as he glared up at the face. Curling his lip, he began to get mad as he dug his fingers to pull free from the creature.

"I've had just about enough with the mind games, ya Git!" Spike sneered at the apparition before him.

It was just at that moment that he was flung easily away by the creature. As he skidded on his shoulder almost thirty feet away, Spike's eyes were trained on the figure of his father as it became something else. All references to his father quickly melted away and were replaced by the silvery flashing appearance of the creature.

"Aren't you the tricky poof? Of all the cheap tired carnival acts…..I haven't seen anything so heavy handed since Leo froze to death holding on to a door in the ocean. What was the plan? Get me all weepy and whatnot and then WHAM!" Spike taunted. He spat as he slowly stood up. He looked over at the creature with narrowed eyes. "Well, sorry, Wanker. All that did was make me angry."

Spike pressed his mouth into a thin line as he took a wide stance, his eyes measuring his other worldly opponent. With a small smirk, he tilted his head from one side to another to pop his neck on one side and then the other. Straightening his neck, he began to bounce on his feet, readying for the battle as a little grin appeared on his face.

"Come on! Let's dance."

…..

"Oh, No!" Buffy groaned as she placed her face in her hands. "He's actually going to fight him. This SO doesn't look good."

Buffy quickly looked around the room and then over at Charlotte.

"Isn't there any way to get to him? To help him?" Buffy pleaded, as her face became flush.

"No, my dear. We cannot interfere. This is HIS battle." The woman calmly answered.

"But he is totally outclassed by this guy. AND he's had a really hard day..It's not fair!" Buffy muttered as she crossed her arms. "I mean, he could have at least started looking for a weapon."

…..

With a yell, Spike charged the creature. He slung a few furious blows at the creature's chest. There was no effect, the creature just stood there. Spike took a step back and flung out a roundhouse kick at the creature, again, no effect. Spike took a step back and narrowed his eyes at his opponent.

"That was pretty lame, using the specters of your past victims, poof." Spike snarked. "Or is that what you use for company around here?"

This time, Spike threw a punch at the creature's head. His fist bounced off the surface, not even causing a ripple of an impact on the creature's flesh. The vampire's eyes widened as he became aware that his blows and kicks were having no effect on the creature.

"Maybe…that cannon thing wasn't such a bad idea." Spike muttered to himself.

Just then, the creature reached over, grabbing a handful of Spike's coat and shirt, tossed him like a piece of trash. Flying twenty feet away, Spike finally rolled to a stop. He glanced over his shoulder, looking back at the creature as he sat up.

"Way to go, Spike. You're definitely out of your weight class…" Spike griped as he saw the creature turn and walk towards him.

Spike began to quickly get to his feet but before he could fully stand, he was again flying through the air again. He landed with a solid sounding thud on his back. Blinking from pain of impact, the vampire gingerly raised his head and looked around desperately for something to use against his opponent. Before he had even had a chance to stand, he felt his body again flying through the air as the creature kicked him. The kick had sent him farther than the previous tosses. However, this time, he was able to get to his feet before the creature reached him. He charged forward and pulled back his arm as he intended to smash the creature. This time, the creature simply caught the vampire's fist in his palm. Spike froze for a second as he looked up at the creature. It did not move. Suddenly, Spike felt a strange sensation in his hand. He tried to pull it away but saw the creature's hand swell around his trapped hand, like a giant leach. He, again, tried to jerk his hand away to no avail. His hand was trapped in the mirror like substance.

….

"Come on! Get away from him!" Buffy screamed. "Just pull your hand away, idiot!"

"You do seem to be quite upset at his predicament. Why?"

"Well, of course…. I…I What's with all the questions?" Buffy sputtered. Taking a breath, she begrudgingly added. "Look, it's like a football game; I am just cheering for my side."

….

His hand...it was on fire with the icy coldness. He was shocked with the creature held his fist with such ease. He waited for the creature to thrust him away, but it simply stood there. Spike's face wrinkled as his gaze went down from the creature's so called face and down to where his hand was imprisoned. He wrinkled in face as the expression soon turned into a sneer. He attempted to jerk his hand back, almost throwing him off balance when it did not move. He tried again as he gritted his teeth with the effort, again, to no avail. He began to feel the freezing sensation seep down to the bones of his hand. A moment later, another sensation began to accompany the cold feeling. He felt a pulling, a sense of something being drawn away from him.

A tiny ball of anger began to grown within Spike's mind. Instinctively, he concentrated on it making it more and more condensed. An organic surge of energy flew from the center of Spike's being through him. A glow began to appear in the creature's hand and suddenly there was an explosion.

Spike's body was flung back by the blast like a discarded broken doll. He skidded on his shoulder as his body finally came to a halt. He lay there dazed for a moment, unable to move. He was free, but incredibly weakened. He could barely move he was so drained. The energy that he had tapped to get the creature to release him was the only thing that had kept him on his feet. Now, his psychic state was very close akin to his physical state. All the recent events having taken their toll on his physical and psychic state, he could barely stand. He knew that he had only just managed to break free from the creature. He also knew that he would not be able to free himself again and would likely die in the next encounter.

He awkwardly struggled to his feet, pitching forward and barely catching himself a few times. He looked down at his hand, expecting to see a bloody mass, but saw his hand looked entirely unscathed. Although it felt bruised and scrapped, it appeared to be perfectly unmarred. Looking up, he scanned the area for the creature. It was not in sight. Spike knew it was a matter of time before it appeared again. He had to find something to better his odds; he turned wildly, searching for anything that could assist him in this fight. Then, he saw something in the distance. He slowly and ungainly started to run toward it, barely keeping his body upright as it tried to collapse. Unconsciously, his hand covered the small protrusion of the dart still stuck in his chest. It was situated just an inch over his heart. It would be his last option. He knew that the creature would drain him not only of his life but the integral part that was himself. Would he become just another shade in this dimension? He knew he would rather dust before that happened. It was then that he came upon something odd.

"What have we here?" Spike thought as he stopped in front of it

It was a large dark stone. Just like the one he had seen on the dais in the temple of Avestan. He stared at it perplexed for a moment. Reaching out a hand to touch the stone, he became aware of the presence behind him. Turning slowly, he once again heard the chant coming from the creature which made his skin crawl.

"Vyrrendissx Malnifsssronnlephyk Zyrreagbimv Qodetjgaksper"

"So, this is it? Is it? I really thought I would be treated to more witty banter before I bit the big one. I have to say, you really need to brush up on your small talk." Spike snarked with a smirk. "Perhaps, you should look into getting one of those self help books on how to communicate. You know…Dale Carnegie and his gang."

Suddenly, the creature backhanded Spike away from the stone. Spike landed twelve feet away on his back, staring up at the creature. Blood gushing from a gash in his forehead, Spike shakily lifted his upper body up to a sitting position. He pressed both hands to the floor as he unsteadily propped himself up, looking over at the creature.

"Or maybe not. I get your message loud and clear." Spike muttered. Taking a few deep breaths, he announced. "Alright, time to go! I get it. Let's not drag this out!"

With dwindling energy and based on pure mule headed obstinacy, Spike shakily managed to get to his feet. He swayed unsteadily as he concentrated on maintaining his balance. Taking a deep breath, he charged the creature once more with the last of his energy. His weakness and exhaustion overwhelmed him as he moved forward, but he was not able to sustain the charge. His sense of balance disserted him as his charge disintegrated into an ungainly side stagger. Without intending it, he found himself drifting over to the stone. His momentum carried him over till he fell crumpled across the stone. His body slowly slid down, as his hands braced against the stone. His legs collapsed under him, until he was sitting next to the stone, his shoulder leaning against it. Barely able to raise his head, it bounced as he lifted his eyes to regard the creature. Spike turned his body slightly to be better able to see the creature, as he waited for the killing blow.

As his body brushed against the stone, it abruptly changed the color. The creature suddenly recoiled in reaction. Spike's eyes darted away from the creature and around to see what happened. Looking down, he realized that the end of the dart in his chest is brushing against the stone. Out of the corner of his eye, Spike noticed that the creature seemed to react in pain.

"So, you don't like that, do you? You're tied to this stone. Maybe, there is a weapon to be had, ya burk!" Spike said through his gritted teeth.

Spike wrapped his hand around the dart in order to pull it out and shove it into the stone. To his disappointment, he found that dart was still solidly stuck in him. Looking up, he observed that the creature had recovered and begun to approach again. Seeing his time is running out, Spike closed his eyes and opened them with renewed determination. Exhausted, Spike turned and flattened his back against the stone. Wrapping hand around the end of the dart sticking out of his chest and pulling his chin forward in resolve, he looked up to see the creature looming over him.

"Buffy, I love you..." he whispered a truth he would scarcely admit to himself.

With a sudden forceful action, Spike pressed the dart through him and into the stone. For a moment, Spike's body froze and lost all color. The vampire's gray outline stood in place for an instant before it shattered into a million tiny micro fragments. The dust showered down over the dark stone. In the next instant, the stone erupted into a conflagration of brilliant bright golden light, obliterating everything.

….

Buffy reeled back from the pond, her hands in front of her, eyes closed, her head turned away from the overwhelming blinding light. With her face turned away, she didn't see that the stone on her ring is shining the same brilliant golden light.


	33. Chapter 33

Ring on her Finger

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Author's note: I would like to thank everyone for being so patient on waiting for the next chapter of this story. I have just finished changing jobs and moving across the country. Whew!

…...

Chapter 33

The light blazed about Buffy, surging around her in a blinding haze. Buffy pulled her forearm tighter toward her face against the increasing glare and deafening roar that was building around her like a tempest. Her hair flew up as a wave of white heat tinged her skin as if she was too close to a fire. It seemed like the fires from an interior of a star in the depth of their brightness. Then suddenly, it seemed like the deafening roar skipped. Then it skipped again. The upheaval froze once more for just a second and then it settled into a slowing, jerking rhythm like a scratched record till the all the furor came to an abrupt halt around her. After a second, Buffy tilted her head in puzzlement and peeked one eye over her forearm. Her eye blinked and roamed the area around her, taking in stock that everything seemed to be frozen. She slowly lowered her arm as she turned her head to peer at the blinding turbulent chaos that had suddenly frozen around her.

"Catastrophe! Absolutely utter catastrophe!" A woman's exasperated voice carried over to Buffy in the hushed silence. "This was not supposed to happen…"

Buffy turned to the source of the voice, to see Aunt Charlotte standing a few feet away in the midst of the frozen onslaught. The woman had opened the large ornate clasp of the heavy cloak at her neck and allowed it to slide to one side down to the floor. Aunt Charlotte casually observed the cloak travel down her arm as it soundlessly fell to the floor. Buffy could see that Spike's Aunt Charlotte was really not that old, it was only the clothes and hairstyle that made her seem older than her years. She seemed to be in her late twenties. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back into a large bun at the base of her neck with two large locks of hair on the side of her head bent into a large curl before it was drawn back with the other hair. She was wearing a dark navy Victorian dress with black piping that flowed into a large skirt that swirled around her. She stood ramrod straight as her waist was held firm and artificially small by an apparent industrial strength corset attesting to the radiating outrage the woman seemed to exude. It was similar to a steam engine overheating, allowing a slow exhalation of steam to barely keep it from exploding.

"That's absolutely outlandish! How utterly perverse! I am unable to believe my eyes. How in the name of everything that is good, did that boy manage that?" Aunt Charlotte muttered as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Huh? Wha's goin on?" Buffy asked, still reeling from the scene she had witnessed.

"I realize that some forbearance had to be borne since he was not fully educated about his responsibility but to have this occur. It is beyond any reasonable expectation…" the prim Victorian woman announced, stress evident in her tone. "I hope you are pleased with yourself. Now, it is completely out of balance."

"Hey, wait a minute. Did I see what I think I saw what I think I did?" Buffy muttered as she put her hands to her head to stop the spinning. "Didn't I just see Spike dust?"

"Oh, indeed, that among a most important thing: he destroyed the other stone. The lovesick simpleton!"

"Well, what was supposed to happen?" Buffy uttered slowly scrunched her face as she gazed suspiciously at the other woman.

Aunt Charlotte did not respond. She just stood there staring at Buffy, her face inscrutable, after a few moments, she threw up her hands.

"I am without words!" Aunt Charlotte announced to the room as she hurriedly began to pace in front of Buffy. Suddenly, she stopped and pointed a finger at Buffy who reared back in response. "And you…You are unquestionably of no assistance in this matter. You sit there, acting rather dimwitted when a simple question is posed to you; but when it comes to admitting your feelings, you're as timid as baby deer."

"What? You're turning this on me? Are you saying this is my fault?" Buffy asked indignantly, then pointing back at Aunt Charlotte, she counter attacked. "What was with all the 'It is his destiny' speech that I've been wading through for the last five minutes?"

"Tpt….." Aunt Charlotte made a small sound of outrage, before physically restraining herself. With a deep sniff, she pulled back her shoulders while setting her jaw in determination. She folded her hands in front of her before addressing Buffy in measured tones.

"You are correct. I am wrong in saying this is your fault in allowing this situation to occur. My nephew choose to bestow his affection on someone of your ilk. It is BOTH your faults."

"Listen, if you had been a little more forthcoming when I got here, we wouldn't even be in this position. So, if blame is going to be handed out, you better get settled with a big ole plateful!"

"It is a simple matter. All you had to do was to admit your feelings, and you would have saved him, but I see that you are intensely tiresome on this matter." Aunt Charlotte placed her hands on her hips as she stared at Buffy. "Well, speak up! I believe I am entitled to an answer to my question."

"I….I don't …What?" Buffy gasped, so absolutely overwhelmed with the turn of events that she sounded absolutely befuddled.

"Still no answer?" Aunt Charlotte sighed and then looked upward in a helpless shrug. "Oh, I am utter confounded by my nephew's choice in women. Perhaps, my sister was too lenient with him in his early life. Let's see if I can put this in simpler terms: Do you have any feelings for William?"

"Feelings? Well, I…I mean he is…" Buffy's face wrinkled as she felt Aunt Charlotte's gaze upon her. "Okay! Just for argument's sake, let's say I do. I am not saying what type, but I can definitely agree that I do feel something."

"We have to start somewhere." Aunt Charlotte said with a resigned sigh. She pointed to Buffy's hand. "The ring obviously is reacting as if there is something between you. It has halted time based on your distress."

"Say what? It halted time…It can do that? Like everywhere?" Buffy's eyes became large as the impact of the event hit her.

"Yes." Aunt Charlotte answered, her patience running thin.

"Wow! This little ring packs a lotta of power." Buffy looked down at the ring and then announced with delight. "I thought it pulling me from my dimension was cool, but this….this is really super...uh cool!"

"Nevertheless, it is up to you to set things to right. The ring has halted the imbalance. The absence of the stone of the creature has created a void allowing an upheaval of the planes. An apocalypse, if you may."

"An apocalypse, huh? Must be Thursday!" Buffy muttered. "Okay, so what do we do about it? I mean we gotta do something. We just can sit around here forever….at least, I can't."

"There is one possible resolution. William was never meant to inherit the ring. My brother Bertram was. He met an unfortunate accident shortly before he was to acquire the ring." Aunt Charlotte turned and looked directly into Buffy's face and addressed her. "If you can bring my brother, hail and hearty to my father's house the night when the ring was given to William. We may avoid this unfortunate chain of events."

"What are you talking about? " Buffy asked as she stood up from her kneeling position and brushed off the sand from the knees of her jeans. "That happened over a hundred years ago….I mean you don't expect me to go back in time to wrestle this Bert guy over to your dad's place, do ya?"

Aunt Charlotte closed her eyes as she sighed before continuing.

"If you are successful and see that the correct heir accepts the mantle. William will not have to serve and all this will have never happened. You can go back to your life as a disagreeable, rather surly young woman."

"Really?" Buffy scrunched up her face, before slowly shaking her head. "This is getting too weird. Time travel, right! I mean where's the Delorean? Come on!"

"It is either that or you and I can spend eternity together." Aunt Charlotte mirthlessly responded.

"Okay. Start with the girl talk! Just tell me what I have to do!"

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

She really needed to watch her mouth, Buffy thought as she fell. Once the words announcing her agreement had left her lips and quick bit of instruction from Aunt Charlotte, Buffy felt floor melt away from her feet and her body was suddenly falling. One moment she was standing beside a pool and the next she had been swallowed up in some inky dark void. She should have known from the stories she had read as a child, young Alice fell down the rabbit hole and Dorothy and her house fell out of a tornado, that landings when transporting to another world tended to be on the rough side. At first, only unintelligible sounds emitted from her open mouth as she flailed her arms in desperation as she stared into the blackness beneath. She seemed to be falling interminably, when in the next instant her body fell with a thud into a cold hard and yet rather moist surface.

She lay there in the cold mud, not moving for a moment. She wrinkled her face into a grimace as the cold gritty water enveloped the side of her face. She slowly lifted her head up from the puddle. Trails of dirty water traveled over her forehead as she inadvertently winked and opened one eye independent of each other. Finally, she gave her head a little shake and spitted out the grit that had managed to find its way into her mouth. She pulled up her hands to wipe the murky water away from her face, but stopped as her eyes locked onto the cold mud deposited on the heel of each palm. Placing her hands back down in the puddle, she pushed up to sit back on her heels. When she did, she felt the cold embrace of her clothes that had soaked up a considerably amount of the puddle against her breastbone, it sent new rivulets of cold dirty water down her torso down to her waistband. With two fingers of both hands, she gingerly held the mud adorned cloth away from her to keep the remaining dampness away from her torso.

She looked away from her body to see that she had landed on a muddy country road. The puddles of murky water sandwiched in between the ridges left by passing vehicles reflected the bright moon that was beaming in the sky. She looked around her to see that she was in the countryside. It seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, there were no billboards and the road wasn't even paved. Aside from the moonlight, there was no sign of light indicating civilization from the nearby surroundings. A chill wind blew across the landscape, making her realize the thinness of her wardrobe. Where was she?

She stood to take a better look. Over on the field, next to the road, something caught her eye. Wrapping her arms around her, she moved closer to the mysterious object. It was a dark mass laying on the field. It stood out among the gleaming leaves shining in the moonlight. She sidestepped the last few feet toward it, ready to take a defensive posture if it suddenly attacked. Her steps took a staccato rhythm as she edged closer.

"Oh Hell!" She exclaimed as she recognized the mass. She marched toward it with a sense of relief. "The stupid cloak!" She leaned down and pull the heavy cloak with her two hands. "I gotta say Aunt Charlotte has a wicked sense of humor."

Wrapping the warm cloak about her, Buffy began to stamp down the road, hoping to find some indication of where she might be. The cloak did turn out to be a godsend, keeping the chill air from making her wet clothes an even further irritant. She plodded down the side of the road, head down, intent on making progress. It was at the zenith of a small hill that she caught the first glimmer of a light in the distance. It was still quite a ways off, but it was the first sign of occupied civilization she had come across. The leather of her boots squeaked as she began to walk down the hill.

As she got closer, she could tell it was a two story building, light was illuminating the windows with a soft glow. There was a flattened piece of pounded earth out front that was being used as courtyard. It must be some kind of restaurant, she thought. She could make out the outline of a sign by the roadway. She peered a little longer, she began to make out some of the architecture. It looked like one of those steakhouses built in the seventies that tried to look like an old English Inn. As long as they had heat and a phone, they could be as corny as they wanted to be.

Buffy stopped to scratch her head for a moment and ponder about the world she now inhabiting. "Hmm….did they have phones in the nineteenth century? There were all those pictures of that inventory guy, Belle with that long beard...Those pictures were totally old." She nodded in confirmation as she approached the door. "Yeah, they should have phones."

Pushing on the oversized artfully weathered door, Buffy entered a room filled with golden light with a grateful sigh at escaping the chill night air. She stopped just inside the door to take in the battered wooden tables with a large fireplace at the end of the room. There was a bitter scent of smoke and unwashed bodies that floated over to her. Although there was a large fire burning the fireplace and more than a few people in the place, there was still a definite chill in the air which made her draw the cloak tighter. There was the sound of drunken carousing over in a corner where the silhouettes of several men could be made out against the flames in the fireplace.

"Oh, great! It's just like one of those theme restaurants." Buffy said to herself as she peered around the inn. "I guess it could be worse, at least they're not jousting."

"Hey. Excuse me." She stopped a rather thin and tall mustachioed man walked by dressed in a rolled up sleeves with a tightly fitting vest and an apron with a tray full of tall glasses. "Could you tell me where the phone is?"

The man's forehead wrinkled in confusion to her question. He responded in a deep Welsh accent. "Never heard of him. If you wantin somfin to drink, I'll need to be seeing some coin first."

"I didn't ask for something to drink. I need to use the telephone." Buffy decided he didn't understand her, so she began to talk slower. "You know…TEL-A-PHONE. Where is the telephone?"

"Tela….If you needin ta be usin the privy: turn right atta door, go behind da buildin and it's at the bottom of da knoll." The man's voice strained over the ever increasing din coming from near the fireplace.

"Priv…I need an English-English translation book!" Buffy grumbled. "Would you talk like a real person for a minute? Come on, you gotta have a telephone somewhere."

"Tela…Sorry, Miss, we don't serve any fancy wine here. We just ha' simple English fare."

"No, it is not wine." Buffy began to get exasperated. "You know, it's a telephone. It's a thing you can talk into and, you know, people talk back to you on it."

"One of those! Sure, we got plenty of those! Why didn you say so!" The man's voice echoed with false discovery to Buffy's hopeful face. The amusement fell from the man's face in the next instant as his voice lowered and he uttered. "Look, dearie…we don't have any of those tell things, so take your fevered imaginings right outside this establishment."

A sudden increase in noise suddenly occurred from the group near the fireplace, the innkeeper placed the tray of drinks on a nearby table. The man gave a short look over to the group before firmly grabbed Buffy's arm, moving her to the door.

He briskly informed her as they neared the door. "I have paying customers to take care of and I don't have time for your unbalanced ravings."

Buffy was so surprised that she was in shock as she felt her arm being lifted by the man as he firmly escorted her to the door. Opening it with one hand, he pushed her through it, calling after her.

"Please feel free to take your business to another establishment."

The sound of wood door closing followed after Buffy as she trotted a few steps with the momentum given by the man's push. She turned to look at the doorway, stunned as her other hand began to rub the blood back into her upper arm that had been pinched in the tall man's hand. She grumbled as she looked at the door for a moment.

"All he had to say was he didn't have a telephone. Sheeesh!"

Buffy had just turned away when the door to the inn suddenly opened, unleashing a blasting cacophony of outraged voices mingling threats and demands out into the courtyard. A slightly larger masculine body was being tossed out the door into the courtyard. It glanced off her shoulder making her stumble a few steps. After regaining her balance, she looked back to see a body of man, laying on his back on the chilly packed ground by the inn's entrance. Buffy stood up and straightened her cloak since the impact had jostled the cloak forward.

"I'll…ll ha you know, my goo..*hic...good man, tha I will na b ex-extending my b'nss any furder" a well inebriated male voice mixed with authority and amusement carried over to Buffy. The door slammed shut in response, but the drunken voice continued to the innkeeper or the night sky. "thiss eb-evening."

The man did not try to rise from the cold ground, he continued to lay exactly where he landed, his limbs splayed over the cold ground. He seemed quite content to look up at the frosty stars in the sky above him. Seemingly, having gotten his fill of the stars, he pulled up his elbows to prop himself up with an amused sigh. From the lazy way his head lolled on his neck, it appeared that he had imbibed quite a bit of alcohol during his sojourn at the inn. It took his eyes a few moments to focus to realize that he was not alone. His eyes finally seemed to fix on her feet. He slowly allowed his gaze to travel up from her feet all the way up to her face. When it reached her face, he blinked a few times before a small twisted smile appeared on his face as his voice broke the chill air with these familiar words.

"Hello, cutie."

.


	34. Chapter 34

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

…

Chapter 34

"Great! Just great! Now, I am being accosted by flying blockheads! Could it get any better than this?"

Buffy muttered as she regained her feet. She kept her back to the prone figure on the wet ground and began to hurriedly brush the freshly deposited mud off the front of her heavy cloak.

Once the majority of the mud was removed, she began to shake her head as she reviewed the sorry situation in which she had found herself. Here she was stuck in the middle of hayseed central. On top of that, she was still feeling the sting of manhandled not too gently out that stupid inn when all she wanted to do was to use the telephone. What kind of yahoo establishment was this when they get irate on asking a simple question? And as a cherry to the cake of her day, she hadn't gone more than two steps before she was being knocked over by a flying beer soaked moron and getting reacquainted with the cold muddy ground. 'Hello cutie' who says that? To think that that obviously wasted lush had the temerity to use the lamest come on she had heard in a long while. Some days, it just didn't pay to try to save the world! It seemed to attract the most irritating people. Seeing little other option, she turned to address the sprawled figure a few feet away.

"Hey, drunk guy, could you tell me where the nearest telephone is around here?" Buffy groused, as she irritably looked over the prone form.

"My…my dear lady, ask of me an…any task, I will gladly ob…oblige." The inebriated young man sat up and twisted to place his hands on the ground to assist in his struggle to his feet. The mere act was similar to a high wire act as he balanced on the unsteady limbs. As he finally found the balance to stand, his body swayed as he rocked on his heels as he stood in front of her.

"Pl…please allow me to be of service in this quest for a…a….a what?" The rumpled, slightly muddy and wavering man questioned

"Yeah, I can see you're going to be great help. You might want to concentrate on staying vertical for the short time." Buffy mumbled as she looked away. Heaving a great sigh, she then looked back to the man and stated the following in a slow determined manner for his diminished capacity. "Look, I am trying to locate someone. I am hoping that information has his phone number, okay?"

"Wha..wha's a foo num….number?" The man's brow wrinkled in confusion as he unsteadily kept his footing.

"God, why do I always run into the village idiot when I need answers?" Buffy complained as she threw up her hands in frustration. "Can't anyone answer a simple question?"

"If..if you're looking for idi..idiots, I believe I can point you to a whol..whole inn full. The management can be most helpful. I would say with your looks, you wouldn't have any trouble getting the pick of the litter." The man inexpertly attempted to flirt.

"Hardy, har, har har. Already been in there and let's say I was dumbfounded with the wealth of choices inside." she replied smartly, her ego still recovering from her treatment inside the inn.

"Well, then. There's only one thing le…left to be done." The inebriated young man stated resolvedly as he stood up fully. He loftily asked. "I shall ..help you. Now, what's the name of the fellow you're looking for?"

"I know you think you can, Mr. Oh Notso Helpful, but I think I can continue on just fine without your help." Buffy griped.

"Mr. Oh Notso Help..Helpful? I don't believe I know the name." The wasted man seemed to be seriously considering the possible name.

"No, that's not his name!" Finally seeing the pitiful number of options facing her, Buffy decided to take a chance to see if the drunk could be any help. With another pained sigh, she addressed the young man. "Okay. I'm looking for a guy named Brask. Do you know him?"

The funniest expression appeared on the man's face in front of her. Buffy raised an eyebrow in response just before the man answered. "Brask, you say? To speak of an odd co.. ..cidence, my….."

In the next instant, the door of the inn swung open, allowing the yellow light to illuminate a square section of the courtyard in front of the door. An oversized dangerous figure was silhouetted in the frame of the door, with the heads of figures standing behind him. A loud gruff voice cut through the cold night air of the courtyard, freezing the occupants in place.

"BRASK! YOU AIN'T LEAVING HERE UNTIL YOU PAY US THE MONEY YOU OWE US!"

Looking over her shoulder, feeling the combative intent coming of the speaker in the doorway, Buffy's jaw dropped. Slowly turning her head back to the disheveled man she had been speaking with, she stared at him in shock.

Her eyes traveled over the staggering mud covered figure in front of her. What were the odds? She asked herself. Okay, maybe it was some kind of mystical set up, but the first totally sloshed dope she runs into turns out to be Bertram Brask. This was it? This pathetic character was Bertram Brask? This guy was supposed to put the world back in order only if she was able to keep him from getting killed? From the current interchange with the man in the doorway, it was going to be a lot more work than anticipated. Her eyes cataloged his appearance from head to toe. Overall, she was not impressed. He didn't seem to be the type to be a champion, but maybe the powers behind the ring were grading on a curve. What did she know? After all, they took Spike, didn't they? The young man before her was not that tall or even that coordinated as she watched his feet slide in the mud as he barely kept his balance. From the recent conversation, he certainly did not seem to be as clever as he thought himself to be. As far as she could tell, among the few talents he possessed was the ability to piss off people easily. Hmmm…Maybe there was some sort of resemblance with Spike.

"Eldri…ri…ritch, my good man, I was wondering what hap…pned to you." Bertram called out as he turned his head toward the ominous looking man and then turned away, dismissing the man. "I bel…believe that out accounts have already b…been resolved earlier this evening. I am currently in conburrrr..sation with this lovely lady. Now, go…go on and be about your business."

As a tipsy Bertram responded to the man, he did not notice that the courtyard was soon inhabited by the man along with three more rather belligerent rough looking characters that stood a short distance away. The leader of the motley group charged over and wrapped his hands in the collar of the young man and yanked him upon his toes till the noses almost touched.

"Brask! You better pay up all the money you stole at the game or it will be the worse for you." The brute growled, his breath appeared in chilled foggy curls about Brask's face.

"I won that money fair and prop…per. It was only your ale mud..muddled sight that lured you to believe that card on the floor was mine." Bertram breezily responded, nonplussed by the threat emanating from the larger man. "That card di..did not fall out of my sleeve, although it was perilously to your chair."

"Well, I say it did." Eldritch seethed through his teeth. He tightened his grip in Bertram's shirt and pulled him even closer. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"Pshah..No, No. Of course not." Bertram wrinkled his face and then stared Eldritch straight in the eyes. "Perhaps, ca..calling you a moron, a cheat or an oaf might be a better suit, but a liar? I don't believe that you have the cog…cognitive ability to lay claim to that title."

The growl that issued out of the brawny man as he balled his fists in Bertram's collar tighter was the only response heard, but a definite indicator of violence about to happen.

"I can't believe this." Buffy muttered to herself as she took a step forward. She quickly appeared at the elbow of the larger man, she placed supplicating hands in between the two men to separate them.

"Heya, big fella. Why don't we all calm down and talk about it. There's obviously some way we can work this out without anyone getting hurt." She appealed to the larger man as she tried to appease the situation.

The men did not take their eyes off each but they did seem to relax a bit as Buffy managed to increase the space between the two men and seemed to be successfully calming the situation down when the young man announced.

"Don..dont worry about me, miss. I can take on these miserable cre…cretins easily." Bertram pulled up his chin and stated with puffed up gallantry. Buffy gawked as he began to taunt his opponent. "I have honor on my side. They may cast as..asper..aspersions but you will see that they will qu..quail in front of my prowess."

Buffy and the large man stared stupidly at Bertram as he drunkenly launched his best intimidating glare while trying to keep his head up. Buffy rolled her eyes as she let out a small groan. In the next second, the larger man seemed to surge under Buffy's hands toward the drunk. Due to the awkward position, Buffy was not able to use her slayer strength to keep the two men maintain the space she had achieved. In a desperate move, she ended up placing her elbow on the ominous man's chest in an attempt to maintain her hard fought distance she had achieved. Despite her best effort, the distance was closing, she looked around to see the other men begin to enclose around the pair. Her feet began to slide on the mud as the man closed in on the young man, Buffy whispered over her shoulder at Bertram as the man pulled up once again on his collar.

"Hey, Sir Walter Knothead, did you think being a big dope was really going to help this situation?" Buffy sniped at the young man who was about to receive a pounding from the local throwback.

"Since we have just met, dear lady, let me ab..absolve you of any concern about my wellbeing. I can take care of myself." Bertram intoned as he gently attempted to push Buffy out of harm's way.

"Really, Brask, hiding behind a cheap trollop's skirts?" Eldritch sniggered. "Even the lowliest half-starved piker around here would lower themselves to that, but I would not expect anything lower from you, you misbegotten runt."

"Cheap?" Buffy echoed in a small yet highly affronted voice.

The hurt quality in Buffy's voice seemed to enrage the young Bertram as he began to scowl at the brute holding on to him.

"How dare you the character of this lovely rose, sir! Prepare yourself for fisti…fisti…Oh, defend yourself!" Bertram declared as he rocked on his toes as he raised his fists in rage.

"Real smooth-like there, Ivanhoe. You know it is easier when you don't tell em you're going to hit him. Kinda ruins the surprise." Buffy muttered as she skeptically looked at Bertram.

With misplaced alcohol soaked bravado, the younger man gently pushed Buffy aside and wheeled back to throw a fist at his oversized opponent. The coarse man smirked as he looked at Buffy who stumbled back. Bertram's awkward blow glanced across the ox like features of Eldritch. The blow barely made an impact on the homely visage, the only evidence was that mammoth man's mouth was slightly twisted to the side with the motion.

Fixing his eyes on his smaller opponent, the larger man calmly smiled while balling up a large fist. He slowly pulled it back to allow the stone like fist to follow its juggernaut path to the young man's face. Buffy gritted her teeth to imagine the impact of the forthcoming blow. It was that point when Bertram quickly kicked the imposing man between the legs. It became eerily quiet in the courtyard for a moment, as no one moved or even dare breathe. The gigantic man's eyes watered as he crumpled over, releasing his hold on the smaller man's shirt.

Bertram staggered back as he looked around to see that Eldritch's companions were now circling him like a pack of wolves. Buffy stood there watching the unkempt nefarious looking men surround the young man. A rather greasy looking thin man took a step forward, feinting a charge at Bertram to distract him so he could be suddenly attacked from behind by his stocky partner. The disreputable looking stout man jumped on the top of Bertram while trying to secure his arm so his companions could have an easy shot at him. Bertram fluidly doubled over, flipping the man over his back and toward the charging companions, knocking them all down. He bounced on his toes as he looked at the chaos he had caused amongst his opponents. He smiled an open mouth smile with his tongue curled up behind his teeth in victorious glee as he watched the men clamber over each other on the muddy stones.

Suddenly, a large grubby raw boned fist crashed into the side of the young man's face, knocking him off his toes and nearly down onto the cobblestones. Bertram staggered as he wheeled around to see Eldritch who had recovered and was rubbing his knuckles as he came forward. He followed the smaller man's path as he prepared to follow up the blow with another.

"Do you want any help?" Buffy called out to Bertram from where she was watching the conflict, her hands inside the cloak.

"Not to worry, sweet lady. Will ju…just be a minute." Bertram breathlessly responded as he placed his hands on his knees to recover while keeping an eye on his opponents.

Shaking his head, Bertram pulled himself up to a standing position. He staggered a bit and blinked to focus his eyes before settling into a fighting posture. Across from him stood the fearsome Eldritch and the other three rough men. The men looked across at Bertram with evil intent in their eyes.

Eldritch led the charge as his large fist came barreling again at Bertram who ducked out of the way. Bertram came up with a uppercut to the gut of Bertram. Two of Eldriitch's gang charged from either side of the large man, attacking Bertram from both sides. Kicking one and then slugging the other with a roundhouse, Bertram managed to knock them both down before the third man managed to surprise him with an uppercut followed by two shots to the gut. Bertram staggered back as he covered his torso with his arms. As he did, two of the men each grabbed one of his arms and twisted them behind him. He struggled to get his arms free but could not. Eldritch walked up smiling in triumph as he repeatedly clenched his fist. He then let an explosive blow to Bertram's midsection, lifting the man off his feet. Bertram let out a harsh sound as he doubled over from the blow, still pulling at the men who held his arms. Eldritch grabbed the young man by the neck, straightening from the bent position. With two finders under Bertram's chin, he lifted his head. With ominous glee on his face, he pulled back to let go a massive blow but just as he let the blow loose, he disappeared

The courtyard was filled with the sound of shattering wood as Eldritch crashed into the thin pillars by the doorway of the inn. The small wooden façade exploded as the body of the large man collided with the structure. His still form finally coming to rest amongst the remainder of the stacked firewood, most of which had been flung about like a child's toys with his impact. In the next instant, one of the men who held Bertram's arms also disappeared and was flying headlong over a fence and lay sprawled on the wet ground of the pen. The other man was cast back across the courtyard cobblestones on his back till he too came to a stop by a pole coming in contact with his head with a solid clunk sound. With the loss of the men holding his arms, Bertram fell forward onto his hands and knees on the cobblestones. The fourth man who had stood there, planning to watch the young man's destruction at the hands of his comrades, looked around at his partners. Realizing that he was next and very likely to receive the same treatment, he clumsily turned and ran down the road with a high shriek.

Bertram looked around for his opponents as he recovered himself. He was shocked to see Eldritch and his remaining companions laying scattered around the courtyard. He looked up to see the petite woman he had been speaking with a few moments ago standing there like some ethereal yet tiny amazon. The cape swirled behind her in the starry night, making him recall the romantic paintings he had studied in school. For a moment, he was entranced. Then he noticed something odd that drew him out of the spell. The cape parted and he noticed that she seemed to be wearing the strangest outfit he had ever seen on a woman. A muddy blouse with trousers and boots. It was hypnotic effect, yet slightly outlandish. Who ever heard of a decent woman dressing like that? Only fallen women or perhaps women on the stage dared to show their limbs like that.

"What did…did you do?" He asked hesitantly, suddenly sober, his face dazed and his eyes blurry.

"Yes, I know you wanted to handle them but you were taking a long time. I have a schedule to keep." Buffy replied in a brisk business-like manner.

"What…If you excuse me for asking…are you? I mean you threw those men like they weighed nothing." He asked bewilderedly as he came forward. His face lit up with an idea as he quickly added. "With the way you're dressed, are you with the circus? I've heard of strong men in the circus, but never a woman."

"No, I'm not with the circus…but my life has been a bit of a sideshow lately." Buffy smirked at the inside joke.

"I didn't get to finish introducing myself. I'm Bertram Brask of the Haimsworth Brasks." The young man announced.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out with that guy calling you Brask. You're gotta come with me." Buffy stated as she waved him forward.

"Well, since I am indebted to you, please ask me of me what you will and I will be your willing servant. It is fortuitous that we ran into each here then." He said with a small smile.

"Yeah, it's just how my luck is going these days." Buffy replied, rolling her eyes.


	35. Chapter 35

**Ring on her Finger **

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh). Hello, I am back. I would like to thank everyone for their patience. Here's the latest chapter.

…

Chapter 35

The moon's bright light shone down on the courtyard, illuminating the pair standing in the center with the sprawled forms of their opponents laying scattered on the edges. Buffy huffed as she pulled the heavy cloak around her against the cold now that the afterglow caused by the adrenaline incurred by the fight diminished. She looked around the courtyard to view her vanquished opponents and then over at the inn's door, expecting any moment to see a blunderbuss waving innkeeper to come charging out the door. She held her breath in anticipation but to her surprise, no angry innkeeper appeared. She let out her breath in a column of steam that issued from her mouth and turned to the enraptured and still tipsy young man standing in attendance upon her.

"So, how do we get outta here, Bertie?" Buffy impatiently asked the young man who shifted unsteadily on his feet. "And it better not be walking, because I have had enough of the whole nature walk thingy."

"It's Bertram." He responded rather bewilderedly, as he seemed to remember his appearance and awkwardly wiped a smudge of dirt from his face and smooth his hair.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Bertram." Buffy looked skeptically at the young man and then asked. "So, how do you get out of here? You got a carriage or something, because I'm telling you that I am not walking anymore tonight."

"Of course, that should be no problem. I have a fine steed in the…in the inn's barn." Bertram stated with a wide sweep of his arm. "Wait here, I shall return with transport ana…ana.. soon."

Buffy's face wrinkled as she watched Bertram unsteadily make his way over to the barn, disappearing with in the large opening. She could hear him bumping, falling and struggling inside the large structure. Buffy as she looked over to the still forms at the edge of the courtyard. She could hear his monologue as he addressed the animal occupants of the barn. She detected the scrape of metal and the shuffle of hooved feet within straw and a resulting curse as a thunder of hoofs proceeded a charging horse out of the barn. Buffy staggered back as a several well-muscled horses barreled through the courtyard and quickly out of sight.

"Hey, what? What is going on in there?" Buffy turned to yell into the great maw of the barn opening.

"Nothing to be concerned about. Slight change in plans." A low voice slurred a response. "Be …be right out."

More muttering could be heard in the barn and before long, Bertram walked out leading a rather worn and bedraggled plow horse out by its halter. The horse's hooves rang hollowly on the cobblestones as the moonlight outlined its bowed back and protruding spine. It seemed that only its nonplussed comportment and sturdy stance was able to keep the dangerously weaving young man vertical.

"That's your horse?" Buffy asked skeptically as she placed her hands on her hips as she took in the less than majestic horse in front of her.

"Indeed, it is." Bertram smiled and patted the sorrowful looking horse's nose as he replied

"Riiight. You rode on in this?" Buffy tilted her head at the obviously pleased drunkard and inquired. "What's its name?"

"His name? Of course, it has a name. This proud and noble beast has a name that reflects his true and valiant nature." The young man seemed to drag out his answer before Buffy's skeptical gaze. "His name is …uh… uh…Champion!"

"Champion! HA! Champion of what? Some sort of beauty contest at a nearby glue factory?" Buffy's jaw dropped in response to the outrageous name as she sputtered. "Listen, I think I would recognize a champion when I and that ain't it!"

"Looks may deceive…but this horse is of noble heart and tested in battle." He replied in hurt dignity as he patted the horse in sympathy.

"Battle of when? 1812?" Buffy laughed at her own joke before she noticed that Bertram had disappeared. "Hey, where'd ya go?"

In the midst of Buffy's dispute about the name, Bertram disappeared on the far side of the horse. With a huge effort, he had managed to launch himself upward on the bare back of the stalwart horse. He scrambled over the knobby spine until he had one leg situated on either side.

"Nevertheless, it is what I call him." Bertram sniffed as he replied and then lent down to offer his hand to Buffy while holding on to the rope that led to the halter. "Please allow me the honor to have hold of your hand, so I may assist in alighting on this proud and noble steed."

Buffy scowled as she looked at the hand extended to her and made no move to take it. Seeing the reaction of the young woman, Bertram added in a patented elaborate tone.

"Perchance, my lady would prefer to walk instead?" He inquired with an extra flourish.

With those few words, Bertram's hand was grabbed roughly and through only the luck of years of horsemanship was he able to hold on while Buffy none too gracefully climbed up the horse to sit behind him.

"Alright, I'm on your horse. Now, let's get out of here before one of those guys comes to and things begin to get all complicate-y." she huffed as she settled behind him. Trying her best to find a comfortable way to ride astride the boney protrusion in the middle of the nag's back.

"Right away." Leaning out, Bertram pulled at the horse's lead and the horse slowly turned. Despite the furious kicking by Bertram, the horse seemed to only have one speed: very similar to a glacial pace. Buffy gave a pained look to the sky as she held on to the drunken buffoon in front of her as they seemed to make slow progress from the inn. The muscles in the horse's dilapidated rear end rolled underneath her own, making her wonder if hours of this odd sensation will have on her own backside. When they had reached the entrance of the courtyard, Bertram twisted to look back at Buffy.

"So, my lady, where should I take us?" He managed to ask as he began to lose his balance and slide from the hours.

As she watched her guide slowly losing his fight to stay on the horse, Buffy rolled her eyes before reaching over and grabbing the shoulder of his jacket, and dragged him back up on top of the horse. As Bertram was making the final adjustments, she made her declaration.

"We need to go to your father's house." She commanded.

"What? Who? Did he send you?" Bertram leaned back in surprise, pulling so hard on the horse's lead that it began to turn in a large circle. His drunken stupor seemed to instantly evaporate at the mention of his father.

"Hey, would you control the horse?" Buffy yelled as she grasped Bertram around the waist. "Look, it is very important that I take you to your father's home."

"I am sure it is…to you." Bertram huffed as he crossed his arms and then declared. "But it's impossible!"

"Would someone explain why your family finds it so easy to be so irritating? It's gotta be in the genes! " The slayer grumbled through pinched lips. "Listen, buster, I don't have time for your antics. If you had a grasp of what I've been through tonight…we're going to your dad's whether you want to or not."

"I hate to dismiss your plans for the evening but the simple fact is that I am not going. I've had my fill of that insufferable man." The young man said more to himself than to anyone as he began to pull on the reins. Then turning to look behind him, he added. "So, you can just report to him that you've failed in your mission to retrieve the repentant lost son."

"Believe me, I don't want to get into family drama, but this affects more than just your hurt feelings." There are people at risk, especially your family." Buffy responded as she leaned over the bony spine of the horse to address the stubborn man.

"My family? Pa…lease! The old bear can take care of anything that comes along. He already tries to control my life and my sisters. No, I won't do it. Do your worst, I won't go." Bertram stated with finality as he slid from the horse to walk it back to the inn. "He disowned me, so you can just go back and tell that old bastion of backward thinking, that I've had enough of him and the family legacy. They can both just go to hell."

"Look, I am really not in the mood to deal with your daddy issues, right now." Buffy sat up and looked up at the sky and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. Then fixing her eye on Bertram, she slowly spoke through her teeth. "Don't make me get off this horse to kick your ass. Just turn the horse toward your father's house and get going! We have got to get there by the something called Jay Laner's eve."

"Do you mean Jalenisieve? God, he's even bringing in strangers into his bizarre world. Well, your plans are for naught!" Bertram huffed as he eyed the young woman behind him.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked rather guardedly.

"I mean Jalenisieve is tonight. It's already after midnight!" Bertram trumpeted, seeing that the bullish young woman's plans to return him home had already gone awry as he slid from the horse. He took a few steps away and turned to look back at the slayer still seated on the nag.

"Oh, crap!" Buffy exclaimed. "We gotta go now!"

"Yes, crap indeed! See, you're already too late. So, go back to my father and tell him that you have failed." Bertram responded with accusatory tone before he turned to lead the horse back to the inn's barn.

"Look, Mister! You're going back to your father's house conscious or unconscious. You make the choice!" Buffy responded as she reached toward the young man's retreating back. "You have to be there. Your family is under attack!"

"What are you saying?" Bertram spun around and stared up at Buffy.

"What I am saying is that that Dye creepy guy is attacking your family and your father is sick!" Buffy explained desperately. "If you don't go back….it's seriously not pretty!"

Bertram stood there frozen as the slayer's words pierced brain. In the next instant, he swung himself easily in front of Buffy. Then with a firm kick to the sides of the worn horse, the nag sprang to life with a loud whiny. Champion lurched forward so fast that Buffy was nearly unseated. She flailed her arms like a windmill as she felt herself losing purchase and luckily just managed to grasp the coat tail of Bertram's coat. With sheer determination, she pulled on the coat tail's material till she had situated herself behind Bertram on the horse. As the horse moved forward, Buffy could feel the uncomfortable sensation of the jolting rump of the horse under her. It made her question as to what she had sacrificed in her bargain to save her aching feet. The moonlit road appeared to be a pale ribbon as the pair jounced down it toward Bertram's father's home.

…

When the hours of sheer torture of bouncing on the back of the bony horse had finally turned her lower half insensate, Buffy was glad to see that Bertram finally slow the ancient horse as they neared his family home. It was only by Bertram's aptly applied heels and slapping that the old nag had somehow managed to maintain a run since they had left the country inn. As they drew toward the large house, they could see that the scene at the house was chaos. People were screaming and crying as they fled the manor with what little they had on their backs. Bertram yelled at staff members he recognized, but not one of them stopped. They looked at him as if he was the devil incarnate and ran desperately in the opposite direction.

As Buffy and Bertram came closer to the house, they saw that the doors were wide open as the light flooded the steps like a beacon. Bertram pulled up the old horse a few feet from the door and easily dismounted, leaving Buffy on the horse. Buffy tried to follow Bertram but found the lower half of her body was slow to respond.

"Hey! Hey, wait for me!" Buffy yelled as she slowly pulled up a leg on the far side of the horse with a hiss.

Bertram did not react to Buffy's as he tried to get information from the fleeing staff. At one point, he managed to grab a roughly dressed hysterical teenager by the arm as he was dashing by. Spinning him about, He shook the young man by the arms till he got his attention.

"Get hold of yourself, man! For God's sake, tell me what happened here?" He yelled in the pale face of his quaking employee.

"It's the end! The devil is here! Oh, lord, we'll all be pulled down to hell!" The stable boy cried as he wavered on his feet, only Bertram's grip was keeping him from falling to the ground.

"Shut your whining, tell me where my family is! Where is the lord? Speak, or so help me god, you'll be seeing hell a lot sooner than you planned!" Bertram growled as he demanded an answer.

With the strength born of desperation, the stable boy twisted and managed to break Bertram's grasp and disappeared into the night before he can answer any more questions.

During the interchange, Buffy had gingerly and slowly lowered herself from the horse. The horse wavered on its feet from exhaustion as she gave the horse a well-deserved pat for its earlier exertion. "Ooh, ooh!" Buffy muttered to herself as she tried to get her lower half to respond as she attempted to move away from the horse. She had a feeling that the damage done to her tender parts was remarkable and there would be a long recovery ahead. From now on, she would consider shock absorbers one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century. She concluded that travel in this time period left little to be desired. With her legs and buttock in a state of trauma, Buffy walked rather stiltedly after Bertram.

Looking wildly about and seeing no one else to answer his questions, Bertram stormed through the entryway of the manor. He stopped just on the other side. All his life, there had been someone appearing from a corner to tend to his every need. Now, the house seemed hollow, like an empty shell of what had once been a living thing. As the unsettling quiet seeped through his bones, he looked toward the staircase.

"Father!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs, desperately hopeful to hear a response.

Buffy has managed to awkwardly make it to the impressive doorway where Bertram stood. Her legs complaining, she wrapped her hands around the door's molding to hold herself up. She is stunned by the magnificence of the great hall on the other side of the doorway. To her, it seemed like a palace or at least, an old time movie house.

A slight movement catches Bertram's eye. He dashed forward to a corner hidden by the statuary at the newel at the base of the stairs. Before Buffy's eyes, he dragged forth a distraught young woman, wearing a black dress with what must have been a starched and ironed apron at one point. Her tear streaked face and trembling countenance touched his heart. He knew this young woman and was shocked to see her in such a state.

"Hibbs! Where is my family?" Bertram asked softly as he petted her hair.

With a sob and shaky finger, she pointed up the stairs to the master's bedroom.


End file.
